


Bet You Didn't Know That

by amaltheaz



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2018-08-12 13:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 152,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7937029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaltheaz/pseuds/amaltheaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What she doesn't know, she doesn't need to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Set in Season 1 up till 'Ballads' episode.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, or anybody in Glee. And this is so not used for profit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in Season 1 up till 'Ballads'

School had just ended and it had been another bad day on top of many other bad days for Quinn. 

She needed to escape the pitying looks and the scathing words. She didn’t want to go back to Finn's and _ pretend _ again, not just yet.

Pretend to be in love; pretend that Finn really was the father; pretend that she  _ didn’t _ notice Puck watching her with that longing stare in his dark green eyes; pretend that she  _ didn’t _ mind when strangers looked at her thinking they knew everything about her and her life and what she should do with it, thinking that her baby bump was public property and that they could just lay their grubby hands all over it whenever they wanted. 

Pretend that she was much stronger than she really felt. 

It was easier at first but time somehow managed to pile on the weight of all the lies on her shoulders and it had come to a point where it was just  _ beyond  _ unbearable. 

Quinn wished for a moment (and not for the first time) that she wasn't carrying this baby just so she could lose herself in a tequila haze. 

Instead Quinn went to the one place that she discovered only just recently, a place where she could be at peace, even for just a little while. 

\--

Quinn reminisced of the first time that she was here, purely by chance.

It was the day after her parents kicked her out, after Finn asked his mom if she could stay with them, after her whole world completely  _ imploded _ on itself and dumped Quinn right on her ass. 

She was sitting at this very spot, backstage in the school auditorium, hiding from Brittany and Santana, from David Karofsky and his Daily Slushie Quest (apparently, being pregnant  _ didn’t _ actually guarantee you immunity), from Ms Pillsbury and her big concerned eyes, and most especially, from her own boyfriend, Finn.

She figured that in the list of places that she could hide, the very last place people would think she would go, on top of that list would be Rachel Berry's house. But since she wasn't exactly  _ that _ desperate to hide - at least, not  _ yet _ anyway - she went to the school auditorium instead.

And it was there as she sat with her knees bent, her eyes closed and her head leaning back against the wall when she heard a familiar voice piercing through her rushing thoughts. 

On her hands and knees, Quinn had crawled over to peek through the velvet curtains and she saw Rachel Berry standing by the piano, going through her scales. Quinn didn't breathe a word to alert the budding star of her presence. In fact, she was kind of glad that Rachel didn't think to check whether or not there was anybody else in the auditorium because she didn't even want to try explaining to Rachel Berry,  _ of all people _ , the reason she was sitting in a dark and dusty corner of the auditorium. 

As soon as Rachel began to sing, Quinn was very hyper-aware of the shiver running up and down her spine as she sat there, listening to Rachel singing  _ Somewhere _ .

And no, it most certainly did  _ not _ make her cry.

The next thing she knew, Rachel was going into her third song when Quinn decided that maybe, there were worse ways to spend the afternoon than listening to Rachel Berry sing. Especially since Rachel didn't actually  _ know _ she had an audience.

And what Rachel didn't know, she didn't need to find out.

Ever.

\--

It was only a few days after that she discovered how much she actually lo– liked ( _ liked _ , she repeated to herself once more), listening to Rachel sing. 

It had absolutely  _ nothing _ to do with the fact that her baby kicked ( _ hard _ ) in response to Rachel's singing voice. 

The baby-kicking thing was something new that Quinn discovered she kind of liked and found kind of much more pleasant than the morning sickness that very rarely  _ actually _ happened in the morning.

The first time it happened was while everybody in Glee sang  _ Lean on Me _ . Finn's fingers were comfortably laced with her own as they both sat watching their friends harmonize their promises to them. Her tears fell easily and her heart ached from the love and care she felt from everyone in the room that she almost missed that first kick. 

It most definitely did  _ not _ happen when her eyes locked with Rachel's and her heart  _ definitely _ did not feel like somebody sucker-punched it when she saw Brittany  _ laughing _ and  _ hugging _ Rachel. 

And she definitely did  _ not _ wish that she was the one hugging and laughing with Rachel.

It took only a couple more visits after, when she heard and saw Rachel sing  _ Mama Who Bore Me _ that Quinn hesitantly admitted to herself that it  _ might _ have something to do with the fact that her baby never failed to kick when Rachel was singing. 

And okay, maybe, she kind of lo-  _ loved _ it too.

_ Maybe _

\--

It wasn’t a secret that Rachel Berry was talented. 

Despite all the slushies, the pornographic pictures in the bathroom (all of which Quinn would gladly die in a fire before admitting that  _ she _ was the artist behind them) and the name calling; everybody knew for certain that Rachel was talented and that she would be one of the very few who would leave Lima to pursue her dreams. And that she would more than likely achieve them all too.

It was also pretty obvious that the girl herself lure it as well. 

_ Hence _ the slushies, the pornographic pictures in the bathroom and the name calling. Rachel knew  _ that _ too.

In fact, Rachel prided herself on knowing  _ a lot _ of things.

But Quinn could bet that Rachel didn’t know that every time Rachel sang, Quinn felt like it was the closest thing to God she had ever been. Could bet that Rachel didn’t know that as soon as she even opened her mouth to sing, Quinn would close her eyes and shut herself off from the world. Rachel's solitary figure, her shining eyes and her beaming face as her heart and soul poured out into song, were the last things Quinn saw before her eyes closed completely, and she would let Rachel’s strong, melodic voice completely override her senses.

She listened until she actually  _ felt _ the heavy burdens on her shoulders come away and her soul felt that semblance of peace that she hadn’t felt since discovering her pregnancy (or if she were honest with herself, since  _ ever _ ). The tightness in her face from trying to maintain a poker face so that nobody in the school would have a clue just how  _ exhausted _ she was, loosened and she felt her lips stretching slightly upwards into a serene smile.

It amused her to no end how 98% of the time Rachel made her feel things that had  _ absolutely _ nothing to do with serenity.

Quinn wondered how Rachel would feel about that.

\--

On this very day however, Quinn was surprised to see Artie wheeling himself towards the stage. Behind him were three others that she instantly recognized were his jazz band buddies. She watched Artie lovingly hold his guitar across his lap, plucking the strings to make sure they were all in tune to each preceding string. The other three were also checking on their own instruments at the same time. 

Quinn panicked slightly, jogging her memory and trying to recall whether she did see Rachel's name registered in the auditorium schedule. 

It just made  _ perfect _ sense (as in perfectly  _ reasonable _ ) that Quinn would routinely check the auditorium schedule to take note if Rachel would be there. And it was not _ at all  _ so that she would find herself wasting over an hour waiting for Rachel because she  _ totally _ did not care  _ at all _ if she was there and Rachel wasn’t.

… But it would certainly be  _ preferable _ if she were there.

So she wondered why Artie and the others were there too and hoping that she didn't get her days mixed up. Although, it wouldn't exactly be the first time she did  _ that _ .

Pregnancy brain sure was a trip.

She sighed in relief when she saw Rachel walking through the auditorium doors. Deducing from Rachel's gentle smile and her friendly greeting, Rachel must have invited Artie and the jazz band to practice together. 

Quinn felt a spark of anticipation crawling across her skin, wondering what they were going to perform together. Wondering how long they had planned to do this. This was only her fifth time hiding backstage and she had never seen Rachel collaborate with anybody else. Apart from Finn when they were in Glee club anyway. It had always been just Rachel on her own. 

Her focus remained on Rachel who was warming up, following the girl as she strolled casually over to stand next to Artie.

“Ready?”

Artie nodded, excitement shining in his sky blue eyes. With an expert slide of his fingers, pressed precisely over bronze strings, Artie began playing a melody that sounded somewhat familiar to Quinn's ears. And it was only when Rachel started to sing that it hit Quinn.

 

_ I go out walking after midnight _

_ Out in the starlight _

_ Just like we used to do _

_ I'm always walking after midnight _

_ Searching for you _

 

While Quinn (and everybody else in Lima, Ohio. And Myspace) knew that Rachel had an impressive voice, she had never heard that voice in any other genre than Broadway or maybe even the occasional pop song. And she was used to hearing the brunette's voice so crisp, clear and so powerful. And while it was still crisp, clear, powerful, and controlled as always, there was a certain  _ rawness _ in its delivery at this moment that intensified the pleasurable shiver that Quinn felt the first time she watched Rachel.

She admired how, even though it was obvious this wasn’t Rachel's niche, her confident voice didn’t waver and when she  _ growled _ out a certain lyric that made Quinn feel a warm quiver in the pit of her stomach, she couldn’t help but picture Rachel singing this song in a smoky bar, illuminated by blue lights. 

And when she started imagining Rachel, she fixated her attention on soulful brown eyes and kissable lips. And when adjectives like “beautiful”, “hot” and “sexy” (and oh my  _ god _ , did she really just say  _ "kissable" _ ?) started floating around in her thoughts, she knew that  _ something  _ was rapidly changing inside her.

It was only after the performance with Rachel's final note echoing into the empty auditorium, that Quinn was aware of the bare traces of goose-bumps on her arms that were beginning to fade and a familiar slick warmth in between her thighs. And when she felt her baby girl kicking harder as if in applause and appreciation, for the first time, Quinn wished she could applaud along with her.

\--

Quinn saw Rachel the next day at school, walking towards her locker. Brittany was talking animatedly to the brunette and Rachel's smile was warm and affectionate and it was so obvious to anybody watching that she had developed quite the soft spot for the affable blonde. 

She observed Rachel interacting so effortlessly with Brittany,  _ laughing _ and  _ holding hands  _ and she felt another kick in her stomach that made her look down at her bump and wonder whether her baby girl was trying to tell her something.

When she noticed Rachel standing in front of her open locker alone, she didn’t know exactly what propelled her to do so but before she could realize and change course, she was already standing directly behind Rachel and softly calling her name. Not “Man-hands”. Not “RuPaul”. Not “Berry”.

“Rachel.”

She thought maybe that the brunette didn't hear her. And before she could pretend that she didn't just approach  _ Rachel Berry _ in full view of everybody rushing to homeroom and called out her  _ actual _ birth-given name instead of the many others she herself had given to her over the years, and just walked away, she picked up on Rachel's back tensing. She watched as Rachel slowly turned to face her, a mix of curiosity and caution in her eyes. Watched Rachel bite her bottom lip as she waited and ignored the fluttering in her stomach when Rachel looked up at her through her long eyelashes. Watched as Rachel softly called out  _ her _ name, questioning and wariness in her tone. Sifted through the merry-go-round of thoughts that made Quinn feel completely at a loss of what to say

Like how she had been watching Rachel sing for the past two weeks and that her baby just loved hearing Rachel sing. That  _ she _ loved hearing Rachel sing. That Rachel's voice made her feel whole and safe and warm and anything else that felt good. That maybe it was  _ not _ just Rachel's voice that made her feel these things. 

That watching Rachel sing  _ Walkin' After Midnight _ yesterday made her just a little bit…  _ wet _ .

She gazed into Rachel's deep brown eyes and she  _ wanted _ to say these things. These lovely (and maybe just slightly scandalous) things about her that would be a massive improvement to the ugly and offensive things that Quinn used to say to her.

But her brain short-circuited and she only came up with an indifferent mumble about seeing her in Glee and then walked away before a confused Rachel could even respond.

She reasoned that maybe it was better she didn’t tell Rachel any of these things. Letting Rachel know would change things that Quinn didn’t feel she was ready to face. And maybe, Quinn kind of liked that she had this all to herself.

Because really, what Rachel didn't know, she didn’t need to find out.

Not yet anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who recognize the title, yes, this is the same BYDKT on FFn and yes I am pseudohuman. I made a note in my other Faberry story that I've been planning to move my stuff to AO3 so that's what's happening here. BYDKT unfortunately has not been completed and since it's been so long since I've even written for Faberry, I want to try and rewrite the chapters that are already posted, which will hopefully help me to actually finish the story off because there are literally two chapters left, lol.
> 
> I've got hella chapters to rewrite and post so what I'm gonna do is try to post two chapters (or one really big chapter) per week. I'm hoping that giving myself this deadline will somehow light a fire up my ass. If not, feel free to contact me on twitter or tumblr (same username as this account).


	2. Chapter Two

The familiar warm feeling of pure adrenaline surged through her veins and Rachel was filled with the conviction that this was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. What she _needed_ to do. While she may pour her heart into everything in her life, music would always and forever have her soul.

This wasn’t the first time she felt this and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last.

The melodic blend of rhythmic beats and meaningful lyrics never failed to make her feel open, vulnerable, and so utterly _naked_ to the world that she understood why people could be shy or so afraid to sing out loud. She understood that people could find it incredibly unsettling to leave yourself exposed and completely unguarded. So she sang; until they could find their own voice, she sang for them and she gave it her all.

Every time that she stood on that stage, singing her heart and baring her soul, Rachel was one with the world, and the world with her. She and her audience might not share the same opinions, or the same ideals; hell, they might not even _like_ each other, or her for that matter _._

But she knew, even if they didn't, that when she looked over at them and they were looking right back at her - _listening_ to her - their hearts were responding to hers and she could _feel_ their souls intertwine with hers.

Rachel knew her role in high school as “that crazy girl who talked too much”, so she accepted the slushies, and the name-calling and even the ( _terribly_ inaccurate) pornographic pictures in the bathroom. So she put with it because she knew that it prepared her. Because she knew there was a _bigger_ world outside of high school and she, as an aspiring Broadway star, had no time for petty jealousies.

And she knew that this was why nobody really liked her. They thought that _she_ thought, she was better than them when really, it didn’t matter what they thought. High school might feel like it was going to go on forever, but it really wasn’t.

But that wasn’t to say that she didn’t have her moments when things got beyond bearable, when she needed to press the pause button to cry her heart out and breathe, just for a little while. When her seemingly untouchable mask cracked. But she was fairly certain, nobody knew about those moments.

She could pretty much bet on that.

\---

Rachel turned to face Artie and the band with a beaming smile, breathless and excited.

“Artie, you guys were _amazing_!”

Artie grinned bashfully at her praise while adjusting his glasses. “Thanks Rach. You were pretty great too.”

“Thank you Artie. And thank you _especially_ for helping me with the arrangement. I couldn't have done it without you.”

“Are you thinking of doing this song for the Glee club?”

“Honestly, no. I’ve been taking into account the suggestions from _certain_ members in Glee that I should broaden my horizons musically and I was perusing through my parents' music collection when I found this song and I thought it would be a great challenge for me vocally. Also, I have been wanting a chance to work with you for a while now.” She paused when she saw his eyes widened in surprise. “Don't look so shocked, Artie. You are a _very_ talented guitarist and I know that while we have been somewhat cordial to each other, we haven't actively tried to be friends and I know that I am to blame as there's nobody in the school who can tolerate my - to quote you - 'annoying' personality,” she says deprecatingly. She smiled to let him know that there were no hard feelings about his observation.

Artie peered down guiltily at his guitar, looking deep in thought as he always did. His light blue eyes turned up to meet Rachel's chocolate ones.

“Well, I've been working with you for the past week on this song and while there _were_ a few shaky moments when I wanted to roll over your toes, repeatedly I might add... You and I are still here. So we can work on that ‘friends’ thing, if you like.”

“I'm really glad to hear that, Artie.”

“You should think about performing the song for the club though, Rachel. I think they would be blown away by it.”

Rachel blushed, surprising him once again. She bit the corner of her bottom lip, seemingly to think it over. “If it's okay with the others and Mr. Schue and as long as you're there to perform it with me, then I say, why not?”

“I'll bring it up with Mr. Schue tomorrow. Anyway, I have to go. My dad should be waiting for me outside by now. Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I think I'm going to stay for awhile. I'll see you tomorrow Artie.”

“Bye Rach.”

\---

As she watched Artie and the three jazz kids leave the auditorium, Rachel felt a sense of accomplishment. Proud that she was successful in reaching out to one of the other members in Glee. She realized that the only time they truly connected with each other was when they sang together. And she wanted to change that. She didn't want to look back on her time in high school and just remember her success in her studies. She wanted to have stories about her ( _legally_ ) misbehaving with friends. She wanted to have a story about a high school love that she thought would never die. But she knew at this point in time, she was not going to have anything for either of those.

She had taken to heart what Mr. Schuester told her awhile ago about being more of a team player. And goodness knows, she was _trying_ . But it was so hard to be a team player, to suddenly have people who were in the _same_ team as you, when it had only just been you on your team for so long.

She didn’t mind too much if they didn’t invite her along on shopping or spa trips but it certainly would be nice if they didn't just roll their eyes every time she raised her hand, or made (albeit numerous) song suggestions. She knew that to most, she seemed untouchable, but sometimes she felt that just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad if she could have _somebody_ defend her the way that Mercedes, Kurt, Artie and Tina defended each other so easily. It would be kind of nice if they didn't just ( _barely_ ) tolerate her.

She paused in her musings when she heard shuffling nearby and her lips twitched upwards into a small smile. At least there was _one_ person she could count on to be there for her.

Even if she didn’t know who they were.

\---

Rachel knew that she was being watched during her rehearsal sessions in the auditorium.

Ever since she was a little girl, she always felt that she had somewhat of a sixth sense and for the past week or so, she could just _feel_ her skin, prickling with _something_ when she was on stage. She assumed at first that it was Jacob Ben-Israel( _cringe_ ) spying on her as usual. But she decided that it couldn't be since Jacob( _cringe_ ) was unfortunately more bold with his intentions towards her and would have come forward eventually, equipped with some offensive sexual innuendo.

And also? The only kind of prickling that Jacob could _ever_ do to her skin, was the kind that just made her want to wash herself until she had practically peeled off her skin.

But this feeling she got from her watcher, her _voyeur_ , it felt more... Electric.

And sometimes, she thought she could feel that same electricity when she walked in the school halls, and she would turn around, hoping to catch them in the act. But they were always too quick to avert their eyes or disappear and she would miss them. Whoever her audience of one was, had been keen to keep themselves completely out of her sight. So Rachel decided to not try to and look backstage or anywhere else in the auditorium to uncover them. She was willing to wait until they were ready to show themselves. But she also found that she actually didn’t mind so much if they don't come forward at all.

And maybe? Rachel kind of liked that she had a secret admirer.

\---

Her high school relationships thus far, hadn’t actually met any of the standards that she made for herself when she started out.

After (very) long hours of thinking it over, Rachel decided that her crush on Finn was only because of their connection when they were performing together. They didn’t fit together, theoretically or practically even. It was not because he was the popular football player and she was the unpopular loser freak. It definitely was not because he was a little too dim and she was a little too smart. It was just that, she had never met anybody who loved singing as much as she did, and he never had a friend who understood this side of him that he had secretly kept from everyone else. So she accepted that Finn would never leave Quinn for her, because he didn’t love her, only Quinn.

But he did love the music, and when they sang together, Finn was open to her and her alone. She knew now that it was the only time she would truly have Finn, and the only time he would truly have her. And Rachel felt that was more than good enough.

Then there was Noah, or Puck since they were _not_ friends. Rachel might not have been in love with him but she did ( _still_ ) care for him. They were together for only a few days but she knew that regardless of what Noah said, she definitely did not make him want to set himself on fire. Anymore.

But she was then quick to find out that he was just another boy, in love with the beautiful Quinn Fabray. And Rachel knew that she was never going to win when it came to Quinn. There was really no point in trying.

\---

She was walking towards the school the next morning, when she saw Brittany approaching her, a warm friendly smile on her face.

“Hey Rach!”

Rachel smiled in return, glad to see the always bubbly Cheerio. “Good morning Brittany. Where's Santana?”

“She said that she’s got a dentist appointment, so she's not going to be here for most of the morning.” Brittany pouted at the thought of not seeing her favourite brunette. “But it's okay. You can keep me company while she's gone.” She smiles happily at Rachel, linking their arms together as they walk towards the lockers.

Rachel scoffs. “Oh, I see. So you're just using me as a replacement brunette?” she asks with an exaggerated pout and mock hurt in her tone

The blonde waves off Rachel's statement. “Don't be _silly_ , Rachel.”

“Alright the-”

“You're way too short to replace Santana anyway.”

Rachel stopped in her tracks, her mouth hung open in offense as she turned to stare at Brittany, ready to tell he off once again that she was _not_ that _short_ when she noticed the wicked glint in the blonde's blue eyes and her lips set in a tight line. They continued to stare at each other until she saw Brittany's lips began to tremble, trying not to crack up.

And Rachel couldn’t help but laugh.

\---

Ever since they performed _Lean On Me_ , Rachel found herself forming a friendship with Brittany (despite the non-subtle protests from Santana). It was not like they were the best of friends or anything. It was just that _something_ changed.

Like, she would be walking down the hall and Brittany would actually stop her just to say hello. While she knew that people (herself included) found the blonde a little did difficult to follow sometimes, she discovered that Brittany had quite the hidden depth: a knowledge of music that almost rivaled her own (almost, because Brittany didn’t own _anything_ from Broadway). And though it had become a regular sight, people still found it surprising to witness the two girls walk down the hall while discussing or (playfully) bickering over a song or two.

And also? Brittany was an _amazing_ hugger.

She discovered this very fact the day that they were getting their yearbook pictures taken and Finn had let her down _again_ . Rachel didn't understand how Finn could say he loved and _wanted_ to be in Glee club one day, then the next day, tried so hard to maintain his fledgling popularity, falling so easily under the pressures of high school norms. It irked her that Finn couldn’t make up his mind about the kind of man he wanted to be. She knew that Mr Schuester had been grooming Finn to be a leader, though _again_ , she didn't understand what _Mr. Schuester_ would know about being a leader when he didn't even _believe_ in Glee club, following that hairography debacle. But she reasoned that maybe Mr. Schue was trying to find _his_ way just as they all were, so really, she couldn’t fault him for sometimes being afraid and getting it (so very) wrong. It could not be very easy having to deal with her and eleven others, when he was obviously going through some of his own personal issues.

But in any case, she really hoped that it wouldn't take some sort of world disaster for Finn to show his leadership qualities.

It was after she had secured the club that mattress commercial that Rachel found herself staring into her own reflection in the girls' bathroom wondering, just when she would start being the choice and not the option. She didn't know how long she stood there, her hands tightly grasping on the edge of the sink with her head bent down.

So lost in thought that she didn't notice Brittany entering the bathroom. Rachel jumped when the cheerleader placed a warm hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged when Brittany asked how her day was going, responding tiredly, “Just another day, Britt. Just another day.”

“I'm sorry I didn't want to do that yearbook picture thing. But to be fair, I'm not really captain material so it wouldn't have been right.”

“And you would have given me a Hitler mustache,” Rachel added flatly.

“ _And_ I would have given you a Hitler mustache. Exactly.”

Brittany's proud smile dimmed at Rachel's withering glare. “It's nothing against you Rach. It's just something we stupid kids do to make ourselves feel better.”

Rachel sighed. “You're not stupid, Brittany.”

The cheerleader smiled gratefully. “Thanks Rach but I know what people think about me. And that's perfectly fine 'cause I'm not going to see most of them after high school anyway. So why bother?”

She crossed her arms as she rested her hip on the sink so she faced her. “I guess you're right.”

The tall blonde didn't respond. Instead she tilted her head, sweeping her concerned eyes over Rachel's still tense form. “Come here.”

She opened her arms, gesturing with her hands for Rachel to come to her.

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What?”

“I said, come here.”

“Why?”

Brittany's eyes rolled, exasperated. “Just come here _already_. Trust me.”

As soon as Rachel took those two steps towards Brittany, she found herself tugged closer and suddenly locked in a warm embrace. She instinctively wrapped her own arms around Brittany's waist and laid her head on the taller girl’s chest. .

Silence fell over them and as she stood there in Brittany’s arm, there was just something about the way that the cheerleader held her that made Rachel feel like she was protected, whole and almost perfect. The way that the tall girl managed to find ways to leave no space in between them and she could feel the blonde's hand on her head, solid and secure, alternating between playing with her hair and gently massaging her scalp that made the brunette feel dizzy with pleasure.

And Rachel knew, she just _knew_ , that Brittany's eyes were closed, soaking in the hug just as much as she was. It made Rachel's heart swell from the affection that Brittany was bestowing upon her.

“Brittany?”

Rachel waited until the blonde hummed and she felt the sound vibrate against her ear.

“If there's ever going to be an award for best hugger in the world, you'd win by a mile.”

She smiled when she was rewarded by Brittany's hearty laughter.

\---

“I still need to get some books in my locker. Save me a seat?”

Brittany nodded and hugged Rachel before literally skipping towards their homeroom. Amused, she shook her head at her friend's adorable antics as she turned to her locker.

“Rachel.”

The brunette was so caught up in looking for her books that she froze and felt her body tense all over from the sudden intrusion. She wondered whether she drank too much coffee and that now she was just hearing things. Because there was absolutely _no_ way that Quinn Fabray could have called her name in the school hallway, with most of the student body around as witnesses.

Right?

A quick glance at the mirror on her locker door showed her wavy blonde hair and sad hazel eyes.

Okay, so she _definitely_ was not hearing things.

With a deep breath and her guard back up, Rachel slowly turned around to face the former head cheerleader and she was hit by a familiar wave of _something_ that greeted her every time she came face to face with Quinn. Something that she had frequently labeled as intimidation or envy but she didn’t really believe to be either. There was a name for that _something_ but she couldn't really think what it was.

Her brown eyes subtly swept over the taller girl's form, marveling at her pregnant glow and she wondered how Quinn was handling her current situation. Rachel knew that Quinn had been staying at Finn's but for whatever reason, it didn’t seem to bring the future parents any closer together. If anything, she had seen them fight on more than one occasion, than she had seen them existing peacefully together. She wished once again that Quinn had accepted her offer of friendship.

She remembered a time before Quinn knew of her existence and she felt some sort of affinity towards the then head cheerleader,. She thought that maybe there was a possibility of them being really great friends or something. But then the insults, slushies and pornographic pictures came along. So she pushed that idea to the back of her mind.

When she tried to reach out to Quinn again after Jacob blogged about her pregnancy, she really thought for sure that the blonde would accept. But she didn't, so Rachel stopped thinking about it.

Maybe she should try again?

Biting her bottom lip, she glanced up at Quinn, her eyes were glazed over, looking lost in her own private musings. Rachel always envied ( _admired_ ) Quinn's hazel eyes. No matter how much she cried or how sad they looked, she was still do achingly beautiful in her melancholy. Since the news of the pregnancy broke, she had seen Quinn with those sad eyes more times than she would like. And it made her heart hurt so much that it triggered an instinct to protect the blonde and keep her away from harm.

Which was crazy really. Because Quinn had Finn, who would probably do a much better job at protecting and keeping her away from harm than Rachel ever could.

Breaking herself away from her thoughts, she realized that Quinn still hadn’t said a word since approaching her. Cautiously she softly called out to Quinn until she actually looked at Rachel.

And Rachel waited.

But all she got was a mumbled, “See you in Glee,” and Rachel was too shocked and confused to even try to come up with a reply. The blonde walked away before she could anyway.

As she followed Quinn's huddled form shuffle away from her, Rachel still didn’t know what to say but a million thoughts raced around in her head.

For Quinn to voluntarily walk up to _her_ and call her _given_ name instead of the _ridiculous_ nick-names (because really, how could _anybody_ look at her hands and think, “Hm, they _are_ quite manly”) she had been given and then to be so _awkwardly_ silent with her; the questions just keep on coming.

\---

But the biggest question that played in Rachel's mind all day?

Why did she feel that same _prickling_ electricity when her eyes locked with Quinn's?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if there are any grammar mistakes. I tried to fix what I could (good god there were so many) but I could have missed something.


	3. Chapter Three

Quinn really didn't know  _ why _ she couldn't think of something better to say than "See you in Glee," because  _ god _ , there were  _ tons _ of other things,  _ better _ things, to say than just  _ that _ . 

She just knew that she was going to spend the next hour (or the rest of the day) beating herself up for being so freaking inarticulate. And she knew that Rachel was confused by her strange behaviour and hoped that the brunette would just chock it up to Quinn's crazy pregnancy hormones acting up again.

Hopefully.

Maybe.

Should Rachel actually ask, Quinn kind of, didn’t  _ really _ want to blame it on the pregnancy hormones because when she looked back to this time, she didn’t want to regret any more than she already did. In the end, she figured that it would be better all around if she just processed exactly what she felt for Rachel because everything in her life just seemed a little too muddled to even try approach the girl with anything for now. 

And despite the fact that she always went after Rachel, insulting her looks, drawing naked pictures and insisting she got sterilized, she didn't actually want to  _ hurt _ Rachel. Contrary to popular opinion, she never really hated the smaller girl. She just hated the fact that Rachel chased after Finn, when he was  _ clearly _ already taken. The fact that no matter how many slushies were thrown at her, she got cleaned up, changed into a different outfit and that was the end of the story, no muss (almost) no fuss. She hated Rachel's persistently (annoyingly)  _ good _ and forgiving nature, that despite how many times Quinn insulted her, she knew Rachel didn't hate  _ her _ . Almost like she understood why Quinn did the things she did.

Okay, so maybe she kind of liked those same things about Rachel too. Except for the Finn thing, because there was really no going around  _ that _ one.

There was a difference in breaking somebody's confidence and just plain  _ breaking _ somebody. And she knew if she went into this with absolutely no thought of the possible consequences, there would be a big chance that one of them was going to get hurt. And Quinn had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be her.

She had no problem with gay people, despite what her parents tried to teach her about them (not that she ever said as much to them, of course). She kind of,  _ sort of _ , adored Kurt because really, he was her kind of bitchy. Her best friends are  _ BrittanyandSantana _ , who were really,  _ really _ , gay for each other. If people didn't know that, then they  _ really _ needed to get their eyes checked because the two girls were really, just that obvious. 

She actually thought they were kind of sweet together. And it always amused her to see Santana being so gentle and sweet to Brittany for a minute and then the next, glaring at everything as if she was annoyed about actually showing her softer side.

She also knew there was nothing wrong with having a healthy appreciation for the female form. In the name of competition, of course. After all, her mother taught her from a young age, the many ways to compare herself to other girls. To notice their hair, their make-up, their clothes, their body. To notice where their strengths and weaknesses were. So really, it was her mother's fault that she was noticing Rachel.

But, she supposed that there was a line between noticing and  _ noticing _ noticing.

Because she was pretty sure, her mother didn't train her to notice a girl's lips and wonder what they would taste like.

Glee was going to be _so_ _awkward_.

\---

For Rachel, it was normal to have her two dads in her life. She had never known what having another female figure in the house would be like so she didn’t actually  _ miss _ having a mother around. Though maybe her dads would have found it a little easier to have another female to help her with things like her first bra, her first period, and that all compulsory 'birds and the bees' talk. Because really, as liberated and open as they were, they were still her fathers and fathers didn’t  _ actually _ want to talk about their daughter potentially having sex with  _ anybody _ . But she would like to think that they did trust her and her judgement, that she would know when she was physically and emotionally ready to give herself to somebody else.

Her view on love was simple. If you found love that was good, real and pure, then you were one of the lucky ones. And she considered herself lucky that she had two fathers that loved her and whom she loved in return. Lucky because no matter what got her down, she still found more than enough love in her heart to forgive (and though she tried her best, forgetting wasn’t as easy as she thought it'd be). Regardless of what your brain told you to do, told you what was logical and what was right for you, your heart really could not help who you love. You could hurt someone or get hurt by someone, whether emotionally or physically, but you still loved them. You could cheat on someone or get cheated, but you still loved them. Because love wasn't so black and white. There were many degrees to it. And whatever her thoughts on love, Rachel was sure she would never fully understand it, even when she finally  _ did _ experience it. 

Before high school drama came along, her loves were simple: Herself (because she believed that you need to have a healthy love of yourself before loving anybody else), her family (because they would always teach her something new about life, about them, and about herself) and music (because, well, did that  _ really _ require an explanation?).

The consensus about two gay parents was that the child would end up gay too. For the most part, Rachel didn't really know whether she was straight, gay or bisexual or even asexual. And really, she felt she didn't actually  _ need _ to decide. 

She knew that she was attracted to Finn and Puck. Sometimes  _ still _ attracted to, as both boys weren’t exactly that harsh on the eyes. But it was not like she hadn’t noticed other girls like Brittany and Santana either. After spending time with them, she truly understood boys' fascination with two girls being together. And truth be told, she had had minor crushes on one or two of her dance teachers, and (though she admittedly had not acted upon them) even more minor crushes on some girls in the school itself.

And Rachel would be blind if she didn't notice how extraordinarily pretty Quinn Fabray actually was, and she wouldn't be the first girl to notice it. She volleyed between envy and some other indistinguishable emotion when it came to the former cheerleader. She wasn’t the only one that Quinn attacked, but she knew that thanks to her previously intense pursuit of Finn, she was on the blonde's radar most of the time. 

But despite the things Quinn had done or said to her, she held no animosity towards the blonde, especially now that Quinn had been dethroned due to the pregnancy and the verbal attacks on Rachel had lessened significantly since then.

Quinn intrigued Rachel, from the beginning. Like she was a puzzle Rachel desperately wanted to solve. She saw something in Quinn's hazel eyes that attracted her towards the blonde. But she knew that if Quinn had even an  _ inkling _ that she was one of the girls that she had a crush on, Rachel would, very ceremoniously, get crushed herself. Back then anyway, when Quinn was a cold, calculating Cheerio. So Rachel pushed it all down and focused on more important things and the crush had largely been forgotten. 

But this new Quinn, it seemed, was more friendly, and her smiles, as rare as they still were, were warmer. She discovered how loyal Quinn was, when she heard about the blonde getting them a page in the yearbook by blackmailing Coach Sylvester. Though her methods were albeit, a bit on the shady side, her intention was pure and noble. Rachel couldn't help but respect and admire her for that, and consequently, that old crush came roaring back with a vengeance. But she still didn't know what warmer, friendlier Quinn would do if she found out.

And maybe, thinking back to their non-interaction in front of her locker, just maybe, Rachel kind of wanted to find out now.

\---

Just a couple of minutes into Glee, Rachel walked in the music room to see Artie talking to Mr. Schuester, both men smiling at her in greeting which she gladly returned. She spared a quick glance around the room to see who was present, seeing Kurt, Mercedes, Brittany and Santana sitting together, whispering and most likely gossiping, while Mike and Matt were tossing a football between each other. Tina, Quinn, Finn and Puck had not arrived just yet.

Mr. Schuester approached her after she was done warming up. "Rachel, Artie told me you have something to show us?"

Rachel looked over at Artie who smiled, gave her an encouraging thumbs up and she grinned back in return. "Artie and I do, yes."

She blushed when the teacher gave her something like a proud smile. 

"That's really great, Rachel. I look forward to seeing that. We'll wait until the rest are here and then we'll get started, okay?"

"Sure, Mr. Schue." 

Just as she agreed, she saw the four remaining members walk in the room. Rachel smiled at Finn, Noah and Tina when they passed her to get to their seats. Her smile froze when her eyes locked with Quinn's, and she felt that  _ electricity _ again. She quickly moved her attention back to Mr. Schuester.

"Hey guys. We have a special treat for you today. Rachel and Artie have been working on a song together and now they want to perform it for you," he announced as Artie wheeled towards Rachel's side, his guitar already cradled on his lap.

Finn, confused, raised his hand. "Uhh, were we supposed to prepare something too?”

"No, Finn. This is just something that they did in their spare time and they wanted to share it with you.  _ This _ is what I'm talking about, guys.  _ This _ is the teamwork that I want to see. I sincerely hope seeing them work together will inspire you to do the same."

Mr. Schuester went to take a seat next to Puck, smiling encouragingly at the two of his kids currently standing in front of them. "Rachel, Artie, take it away."

"Thank you, Mr. Schuester. I will be singing  _ Walkin' After Midnight _ , accompanied by Artie on the guitar. Before we begin, I would just like to say that we worked very hard on this. Artie was a very big help on this arrangement and truthfully, I couldn't have done it without him." 

She shared a smile with Artie as everybody else waited patiently. 

"Ready?"

Artie eagerly nodded and just like yesterday, effortlessly moved his fingers on the guitar strings and Rachel opened her mouth to sing.

\---

They ended the song to a big round of applause. Rachel knew they would, because her singing, as usual, was exceptionally brilliant. Artie was more than equally impressive when he did a complicated improv during his guitar solo. And she had even more fun performing the song this second time. Her happy smile widened when Artie raised his hand, waiting for her to give him a high-five which she happily did.

Mr. Schuester's eyes were wide and shining with excitement, like they always were when he discovered a song for them to sing, or when they got through a routine flawlessly. "Wow you two, that was  _ awesome _ ! I'm really glad you decided to share that with us."

"Thank you, Mr. Schue."

"Alright guys, let's get to practice with  _ Don't Stop Believin _ '. Sectionals is only a couple of weeks away and we have to be  _ amazing _ . Take your places and let's take it from the top."

\---

For the rest of their time in Glee, Rachel made sure that she looked like she was being her normal abrasive, annoying self. She still smiled brightly at Finn as they went through  _ Don't Stop Believin' _ . She still made them stop whenever she heard either a flat or sharp note. She still went on and on about the importance about being ready for Sectionals, such as the dietary plan that she prepared for them ("A Twinkie is  _ not _ a well-balanced meal, Noah."), the time-table that she made for everybody so they would be sure to be up-to-date with their school-work (with suggestions of regular study groups) and be well-rested (stars absolutely did  _ not _ have bags under their eyes and looked like they were auditioning for  _ 31 Days Later _ ).

But she couldn't really deny that a small (huge) part of her mind had been dedicated to thinking of Quinn.

The blonde in question seemed to be feeling the same way, as sometimes when Rachel glanced her way, she found Quinn looking right back at her with a hint of something in her eyes that Rachel just couldn't decipher. Rachel had never been more glad that she was such a natural performer that not even feeling Quinn's eyes on her could distract her from being on point. But she still couldn’t help wondering why Quinn was acting the way she was.

\---

Turned out, Quinn didn't actually have anything to worry about. Glee club wasn’t as awkward as she thought it would be. Rachel still raised her hand to suggest songs to sing (and god,  _ diet plans _ and  _ study groups _ ?) and Kurt and Mercedes still rolled their eyes when she did. Brittany and Santana still sat closely together, pretending (but not really) that they were  _ not _ linking their pinkies together just so they could stay connected to each other. Puck still sat by himself, occasionally looking over at Quinn and (mostly) her baby bump.

Really, everything was as it was and should be.

... Except it actually wasn’t as it should be, to Quinn.

Because Quinn  _ felt _ awkward. Her skin itched, her throat was  _ constantly _ dry and she had to remind herself to  _ breathe _ . She looked over at Rachel repeatedly and she didn’t know if she was being covert about it. She didn’t even know if she really  _ cared _ if Santana or Finn or Puck noticed that she had been staring openly at the tiny brunette. She realized that she didn't even care if  _ Rachel  _ noticed. She tried to stop herself but not too long after, her eyes would inevitably come back to some part of Rachel. At one point, their eyes met and Quinn didn’t even look away.

She  _ couldn’t _ look away.

And that was how she found herself currently on the floor.

"Oh my god Quinn, are you okay?"

It was embarrassing really, because dancing was Quinn's  _ thing _ and she shouldn't have fallen. But she found herself momentarily dazzled by Rachel's legs while Finn was twirling her around, and her skirt flew about allowing Quinn to see a generous expanse of tanned thighs which made her miss a step and paid the price with her now actively-bruising backside. 

Her heart leapt when she saw Rachel rushing towards her, concern shining in her eyes. When she noticed everybody else coming towards her, she raised her hands to halt them in their tracks and reassured them. "I'm fine. I'm okay."

"What about the baby?"

Quinn swallowed down the guilt when she saw the unmasked fear in Puck's eyes. The mohawked boy looked torn, between wanting to make sure the baby was fine and not wanting to blow their secret.

She gritted her teeth as Finn helped her up. “She's fine, Puck."

"Why don't we all take a break for a few minutes?"

Outwardly annoyed but secretly grateful to Mr. Schuester for the respite, Quinn gingerly sat down, hissing when she felt the ache. She watched Rachel move towards the piano, disappointed that the singer didn't approach her again. She had seen Rachel's face when Puck asked her about the baby, her curiosity overshadowing her concern. And Quinn was glad that Rachel didn't mention it but from the way that Rachel kept quickly glancing between her, Finn and Puck, she had a feeling that she was going to hear about it eventually.

And as she watched the brunette sing with Tina, she knew that despite outward appearances, Rachel had turned into a ticking time-bomb.

\---

At the moment, they were all now taking a five-minute breather, and Rachel was sitting at the piano, just playing random notes to pass the time.

She thought back to when Quinn had fallen. Rachel thought about how she didn’t hesitate to move forward to help the pregnant girl, asking whether she was alright. She thought about how Quinn just waved away the hands that offered to help her up, insisting that she was fine. She remembered the look of concern on Finn's face, which was expected. 

But what was definitely unexpected, was the look of stark fear on Noah's face. Not that she thought he was  _ completely _ unfeeling, and she knew that he was in love with the girl, but there was something in the way he asked about the baby and  _ looked _ at Quinn that bothered Rachel. She could literally feel her sixth sense  _ tingling _ with unrealized intuition.

She began to play  _ True Colors _ , quietly singing the first verse when she looks up to see Tina standing by the piano, a questioning smile on her delicate features. She nodded for her to join her which she gladly did. As their voices blended together in a beautiful duet, Rachel pretended to not feel Quinn's eyes on her. She pretended to not want to know just what it all meant.

\---

Rachel was walking in the school hallway, humming lightly to herself, glad the school day was finally over. There weren’t very many students milling about in the school, most just hanging out with friends before heading back to their respective homes. She texted her dad earlier asking him if he could pick her up. She hadn’t heard from him so she decided to have a little impromptu practice in the auditorium while she waited for his call to let her know that he could pick her up.

She swept her finger across the piano keys, smiling peacefully, always grateful for her gift of music. She didn’t really know what she wanted to sing but figured it would come to her eventually, so she just kept up her random humming until it then developed into a familiar melody of a song that she knew well and loved. She positioned her fingers on the piano keys to play and the words flawlessly spilled from her lips.

_ When all the world is a hopeless jumble, _ _   
_ _ And the raindrops tumble all around, _ _   
_ _ Heaven opens a magic lane. _ _   
_ _ When all the clouds darken up the skyway _ _   
_ _ There's a rainbow highway to be found _ _   
_ _ Leading from your window pane _ _   
_ _ To a place behind the sun _ _   
_ __ Just a step beyond the rain

Rachel was surprised when she thought she heard something in the distance, like a faint sniffle. She closed her eyes, trying to make her other senses more aware and she realized from the goosebumps on her arms and her quickened heartbeat, that her watcher was here.

_ Someday I'll wish upon a star _ _   
_ _ And wake up where the clouds are far behind me _ _   
_ _ Where troubles melt like lemon drops, _ _   
_ _ way above the chimney tops, _ _   
_ __ That's where you'll find me

And she heard it again, now certain that it  _ was _ a sniffle. Rachel started to feel worried and concerned, her heart breaking for whoever that seemed to be going through a sad situation.

_ If all those little bluebirds fly _ _   
_ _ Beyond the rainbow _ _   
_ __ Why, oh why can't I? 

When something like a muffled sob reached her ears, Rachel had had enough. Her hands dropped away from the keys. She really could not ignore it anymore, feeling that maybe there was a reason why she came to the auditorium and this was it. 

Somebody needed her, and she couldn’t help but answer the call. She stood up and stepped away from the piano, confidently walking towards the back. And with every step forward that she made, her heart beat ran faster, making her chest ache and her steps falter in their confidence.

This was it. 

This was the moment when she would find out who was behind that curtain.

When she finally reached her destination, she took a handful grip of the velvet material and slightly leaned forward, only allowing her eyes to peek around the curtain so she wouldn't get caught. 

She saw blonde hair. Long, silky blonde hair which could only mean that it was a girl, but that was definitely not a big deal. The mystery girl was sitting down with her back slouched against the wall, her arms folded on her knees where her head was resting. She gathered from the girl's slightly shaking shoulders that the blonde girl was still crying, definitely trying to be quieter about it.

For a second there, as her eyes swept over the girl's settled figure, completely oblivious to the brunette's inspection, Rachel felt a sense of recognition. Like she knew who this girl was but it was not really clicking yet. Then her eyes fell on a noticeable bump where the girl's stomach was. 

A  _ baby  _ bump.

"Quinn?"

\---

"Quinn, is that you?"

The girl in question mentally cursed, unable to believe that of all the times Rachel could have looked backstage, it had to be  _ now _ . Quinn was kicking herself for being a big weepy ball of stormy hormones. She really thought she was being quiet, or at least, quiet enough. But she really couldn't help that Rachel sang with so much passion and so much heart, singing in such a way that touched Quinn to the depths of her own heart like never before. Like Rachel was unknowingly reaching out to Quinn and letting her know that everything was going to be okay.

Quinn knew that she should be back at the Hudson house resting because her backside actually still hurt but she really wasn't up to be being babied around by Finn, or god forbid, Puck. So she decided to go to the auditorium, wanting some peace and quiet because she knew that today wasn’t Rachel's day to practice and she thought that she would be fine without Rachel's voice for today.

But she didn't realize just how much she actually  _ needed _ to hear Rachel sing, until she did just now. Because the peace and quiet didn't help silence the thoughts, didn't help slow them down at all. Instead they came barrelling around in her head. She thought about Puck and that look on his face. That look that made her feel so  _ beyond _ guilty for what she was putting him through. Him  _ and _ Finn. 

When she thought about Finn, the guilt doubled. She thought about the look on his face when he would out about her and Puck. About how he was going to feel when he found out. About what he was going to do to her. Because she knew for sure that he was going to kick her out. Even though Finn was one of the sweetest boys she had ever known, a broken heart was a broken heart, and he really was not going to want to look at her, let alone live with her after finding out. 

Then she thought about the way that Rachel was staring at her earlier, like she was trying to figure her out. Trying to see beyond the front that Quinn had been putting up. And it confused Quinn when she realized that she  _ wanted _ Rachel to see;  _ wanted _ Rachel to figure her out.

Actually, she kind of  _ needed _ her to. She just didn’t understand why she did though.

"What are you doing here? Are  _ you _ the one who has been watching me this whole time?" Rachel asked accusingly, forgetting the reason she was there in the first place. 

The blonde lifted her head off her arms to roll her eyes at Rachel, scoffing. "Don't flatter yourself, Berry. Like I would  _ willingly _ put myself under that torture. Please."

The brunette frowned, shocked that she was actually disappointed that it  _ wasn't _ Quinn. Her disappointment turned into annoyance as she crossed her arms. "So what  _ are _ you doing here then? If there is no actual reason for you to be here but you still wish to do so, then I would politely suggest for you to please be quiet as I would like to get at least a few minutes to practice before my dad picks me up. Unless, of course, there was something you wanted to talk about?"

"And what exactly would I want to talk to  _ you _ about?"

"Oh I don't know. We could talk about some things I noticed from Glee earlier today?" 

Quinn tried to swallow a nervous lump when Rachel gave her a discerning look.

"But, I think that can wait until I've gathered enough evidence. So  _ I'm _ going to go rehearse. You can either stay, and if you do, please be quiet. Or you can leave."

Quinn watched as the singer walked towards the piano. Watched Rachel walk away as she heard the blood  _ rushing _ in her head, heard the blood pumping wildly in her ears, deafening her senses to every other noise except for the ticking of the Rachel-bomb, threateningly loud in its repetitive echo. 

She could feel her baby kicking her like she could feel her mother's own panic, urging her to do  _ something _ . Felt her unborn child kicking even harder when Rachel's singing voice permeates through the silent auditorium. Quinn knew that she should just leave but she also knew that it was more pressing for her to say something to Rachel to distract her from pursuing this line of thought. She knew she should say something,  _ anything _ , before Rachel  _ did _ figure it out because Rachel was  _ smart _ and she  _ would _ figure it out eventually. She knew she shou-

"She kicks!" 

Quinn has blurted out so loudly and so suddenly that it startled Rachel's singing and her voice cracked. She felt her body flinch in return, obviously horrified that she botched a note that really, she could do her in her  _ sleep _ . Flustered, she turned in her seat to face Quinn who had gotten up and was now standing in front of the curtains, her arms folded defensively across her chest.

"What?"

The blonde's mind stuttered, her words practically stumbling over each other. "The baby. She kicks. Every time you're singing, she kicks."

"How-?"

"I've been watching you."

" _ Watching _ me?"

" _ Yes _ , okay? I admit it.  _ I'm _ the one who has been  _ watching _ you, here. Every day that you're here,  _ I _ am. Because she  _ kicks _ and it's  _ ridiculous _ how much I love it when she does. When you were singing that song yesterday and today? She went so completely  _ crazy _ that I'm pretty sure, she was actually giving you a standing ovation.  _ Both _ times. And now, now you're not even  _ singing _ , and she's still kicking me like crazy. And I don't understand why. Why  _ you _ ? Why not Finn? Why not  _ Puck _ ? Or if it  _ had _ to be a girl, why not Brittany? Them, I can understand. Finn's my boyfriend. Brittany is my  _ best _ friend. Puck is the  _ father _ . So I don't understand why my baby girl is apparently  _ extremely _ gay for  _ you _ ," Quinn paused her mindless ramble to breathe, too caught up in the adrenaline pumping in her veins to realize what she had just revealed.

"What did you just say?"

Quinn scowled, annoyed that she was being interrupted and was being asked to repeat something she really didn't want to say in the first place. "What, do you just like hearing that my baby is extremely gay for you?"

"No no, not  _ that _ . Before that."

"What?" 

Confused, Quinn mentally rewound what she said.

As realization slowly dawned on Quinn, Rachel swore she had never seen anybody's face pale so quickly that she was worried Quinn was going to pass out. And despite the fact that she maintained a healthy work-out regiment, she didn't think she was going to be able to carry Quinn out by herself. And considering their tumultuous relationship, people would think that she  _ did _ something to the pregnant girl. And very suddenly, Quinn was closing in on her, possessing a speed that was almost frightening. And when the mother-to-be reached Rachel, she looked for all intents and purposes, extremely threatening and very intimidating as she towered over the shorter brunette.

"Let's get one thing straight, Man-hands. You didn't  _ hear _ anything so you're not going to  _ say _ anything. You got that?"

Rachel's eyes were wide and fearful but still were overshadowed by concern. "But Quinn, he's going to be so crushed."

"I know that, okay? I wished so  _ hard _ that this baby is his, but guess what? Wishes  _ don't _ come true, so it isn't. It's  _ Puck's _ . And I don't care that he looks at me with those stupid eyes of his, I'm  _ not _ going to raise this baby with him. I'm not going to raise this baby,  _ period _ . You have to swear on all that is holy to you, that you won't say a word."

"Finn's my friend. I don't want to see him get hurt."

"What do you care? If he finds out now, he'll hate me and he'll leave me.  _ Finally _ , an opening for  _ you _ ."

"Look, Quinn, I don't like him that way anymore. And he loves  _ you _ . He's not going to leave you. I am concerned for him as a friend. And as his friend, I feel that I'm obligated to tell him."

"No, don't!  _ Don't _ tell him. Please, Rachel. I  _ will _ tell him. But just, let me do it on my own time," Quinn begged, her eyes pleading for Rachel to agree.

Rachel sighed.

"It's not my secret to tell, Quinn, so I can't exactly let or  _ not _ let you do anything. But it is  _ highly _ imperative that either you or Noah tell him because if he hears it from anybody else, there will be nothing to salvage of  _ either _ of your relationships. So please do it soon, okay?" 

When she saw the blonde nod, tired and resigned, Rachel changed the subject. "That's the second time you did that, you know."

Quinn looked up at her, confused. 

"Did what?"

"Called me Rachel."

" _ That's _ what you focus on? Of  _ all _ the things I said to you, when I basically told you  _ everything _ , admitting that I'm like, your  _ stalker _ , that Puck is the father of my child; you focus on the fact that I called you by your name?" she asked in disbelief.

"I'm still trying to process everything  _ else _ that you said to me, so forgive me for wanting to nitpick on such a  _ trivial _ thing like you actually saying my  _ name _ for the first time since we've known each other," the brunette retorted sarcastically.

"Yeah well. At least you don't have a five month old baby inside you, kicking you every few seconds. God, I don't even know what I'm doing here. I just don't." The blonde threw her hands up in defeat, unable to make sense of the mess that was in her head.

Rachel watched Quinn pace back and forth for a few seconds. 

"She really kicks every time I sing?"

The blonde stopped her pacing to look down at her baby bump, resting her hands on it, and a soft and almost proud smile was on her face. "Yeah, like crazy."

"May I?" 

Rachel held out her hands, waiting for Quinn's nod before placing her hands just slightly under Quinn's own. 

"Wow, she's strong," she said, so completely in awe at the fluttering against her palms. "It must be a surreal experience. Feeling another life inside you."

"You sort of get used to it. But then you sort of don't? Ugh, that doesn't even make sense." 

Quinn closed her eyes, irritated that she couldn’t seem to string a coherent sentence together. Especially when Rachel was unconsciously rubbing her belly and it was seriously making her pulse race. She doubted Rachel even knew the effect she had on her right now.

"I know what you mean."

“You've been pregnant before?"

Rachel blushed, giggling and rolling her eyes at Quinn’s shy, teasing smile. "Well, no. I mean, I understand what you were trying to say. Like no matter how many times you feel her kick, it can still get pretty overwhelming to know what that kicking  _ actually _ means."

"Yeah, something like that."

"I think you're really brave.”

"Brave? In exactly which part of me hiding away from my boyfriend and my baby's father, do you find brave?"

"Okay, maybe that part isn't so brave. But you're brave for actually doing  _ this _ . For not getting rid of her. For willing yourself to go through this arduous process."

Quinn smiled gratefully. "Thanks. But knowing I'm brave doesn't really fix anything, does it?"

"It can be fixed if you do something, Quinn. I will help you, if you like."

"What makes you think I need your help?"

Rachel ignored the sting from Quinn's brash tone. "The fact that, apart from you and Noah, I'm the only one who knows who that baby girl's father really is?"

"That doesn't make us  _ friends _ , Berry."

"Of course, it doesn't. Just because we're having a perfectly civil conversation right now, doesn't automatically erase the years that you spent attacking me." When she saw Quinn's mouth open to reply, she quickly added, "And no, I don't want you apologizing for it because I'm not even ready to accept it."

"Whatever. I wasn't going to anyway." Quinn huffed as she crossed her arms, turning away to avoid Rachel's eyes.

For a second, Rachel thought that she should just leave Quinn be. That maybe she should just leave and wait outside for her dad who still hadn’t replied. But one glance over at the blonde girl, Rachel knew she couldn't just  _ leave _ . 

"Come on then." 

Her eyebrows raised as she shrugged at Quinn's confused look at her extended hand. 

"What, you want to just stay back here in the wings when you can have the best seat in the house?"

She smiled, taking Quinn's hand and led her towards the chair front and centre before going back on stage to sing. Maybe some Bette Midler.

\---

Quinn thought watching Rachel singing from afar was good enough. Thought that there wouldn't be any difference between watching from a distance behind Rachel, and watching closely in front of her. But seeing Rachel now, standing centre stage right before her, singing  _ Baby Mine _ ... Quinn didn’t really know  _ what _ to do with all the things that she was currently feeling.

It was a much more intense experience than she could ever have imagined, had  _ ever  _ experienced. Sometimes Rachel would close her eyes when she was lost in the words and to the music. Looking so calm, peaceful and so  _ achingly _ beautiful that Quinn recoiled guiltily at the ugly names that she called Rachel before. Then when the brunette opened her eyes and they met her own, she was struck breathless and Quinn wondered if Rachel could hear the violent thumping of her heart.

Finally knowing that it was Quinn all along that had been watching her, Rachel thought it would erase all of the romantic notions she had about her secret admirer. So it was just slightly puzzling when she could feel her heart palpitating at the very knowledge that it had been Quinn's hazel eyes on her all this time, that those very same hazel eyes were on her  _ right now _ . It made her almost want to hide from the intense scrutiny but she knew that she couldn’t. So sometimes she closed her eyes while she sang to take a little respite from Quinn's attentive eyes. But she never seemed to be prepared enough when she opened them and they met with Quinn's eyes and Rachel wondered exactly when the air between them changed from electric antagonism to just simply  _ electric _ .

\---

After a couple more songs, Rachel decided to take a little break because she really could not take being under Quinn's watchful eyes any longer. Every inch of her skin was prickling with an anticipation that she didn't understand. Sometimes she could actually  _ feel _ hazel eyes boring into her, sweeping over her body, intimate like a lover's caress and she could just feel a growing tension inside her, like a wind-up toy being gradually tightened, waiting to be released.

She took a seat at the edge of the stage, primly smoothing over her skirt. Looked up to see Quinn acutely observing her, and she blushed from the attention.

"Do you have a ride home?"

She shook her head. "My car is at Mr. Hummel's workshop. Kurt was going to take me to pick it up but Mr. Hummel informed me that my car isn't ready yet so I texted my dad-"

"A simple yes or no would have been enough, Berry." Quinn rolled her eyes, seemingly more amused than annoyed with Rachel's tendency to ramble.

"Oh. Well then, since my dad hasn't replied my text, I guess it's a no. But I can just take the bus home."

"Come on." 

Quinn turned when she realized Rachel wasn’t following her and instead still sitting on the edge of the stage, looking at her, seemingly confused. 

"What, you want to sit to next to random strangers when you can have the best seat in my car?" she teased, throwing Rachel's words back at her.

Rachel smiled, her heart hammering after Quinn's gracious offer. She jumped down from the stage, her eyes twinkling mischievously. 

" _ Technically,  _ the best seat in the car would be the back-seat."

She giggled when she passed the blonde, blinking owlishly at Rachel with her jaw dropped in shock and looking positively scandalized. "Rachel Berry! Have you been taking lessons from Puck?"

The shorter girl bit her bottom lip, smiling innocently. "Noah  _ did _ teach me about the many wonders of a well-timed sexual innuendo."

"Of course he did," Quinn responded dryly.

Rachel stopped at the doors and turns around to ask Quinn, "Are you sure, about driving me home, I mean?"

"Not really. I'm very afraid that you'll fiddle with my radio and start singing. Or worse, start talking. Or even worse,  _ won't _ stop talking."

"Yes well, I'd be afraid about you leaving me on some random street with no way to find home."

"I'm not  _ that  _ cruel. I'd give you a map."

"How utterly thoughtful of you.”

"You coming or what?"

"I suppose I should. It would be better than sitting on the bus. You really never know about the hygiene issues that some people ha-" She stopped when Quinn gave her a look, "Yes yes, I know, I know. 'A simple yes or no would have been enough, Berry'. You really need to work on your patience, Quinn. And yes, I'm coming."

"Yeah I'll work on that. And by the way, this  _ still _ doesn't make us friends,"

"Oh I know," Rachel replied with an easy, knowing smile.

\---

Once Quinn parked her car, Rachel unbuckled her seat belt, turning to face her. "Thanks for the ride home. Do you maybe, want to stay for dinner?"

The blonde shook her head, a regretful smile on her face. "I can't. I should get back to the Hudson house. I've never stayed out this late before."

"Of course, I apologize." Rachel gave her a small smile, placing her hand on the door handle. "Thank you for the ride home. I will see you tomorrow then. Bye Quinn."

"Bye Rachel."

\---

Quinn had sat in her car for a few minutes, wondering why she couldn't just start her car, reverse out of Rachel's driveway and be back to Finn's house in time for dinner. Wondering why she  _ wanted  _ to actually take up Rachel's offer of dinner. Because she knew that if she went up there, that was going to be the beginning of  _ something _ , and there would be no turning back. 

In the end, she just said, "Screw it", got out of her car and texted Finn as she walked up to the Berrys' front door. Quinn was very glad that Rachel answered the front door because here she was and she didn't really know what to say if one of Rachel's dads came to the door instead.

"So uh, I was wondering whether that offer for dinner was still available?"

Rachel's brown eyes were wide in confusion. "What about Finn? He doesn't know that you're here and he's probably worried by now."

"It's fine. I texted him to let him know where I am."

"You told him you're having dinner at my house?" Rachel asks, regarding her sceptically.

Quinn quickly shook her head. "God no. I told him I'm at Brittany's. You really think he'd believe me if I said that I'm with  _ you _ ?" 

She winced when she saw the hurt flashing in the brunette's eyes. "Sorry, habit. But don't worry okay? Finn is going to be hanging out with his football buddies tonight so he won't find out anyway."

Rachel frowned. "I'm not condoning this lie, Quinn."

"I'm not asking you to, Rachel. Just let it be. What's another lie?"

The brunette's frown deepened, thinking it over, not exactly wanting to be caught in Quinn's web of lies. But when she glanced up at the pregnant blonde, she  _ knew _ she wasn’t going to turn her away. When the secret was finally revealed, Quinn was going to be left in the cold. And just thinking about it made Rachel's heart hurt. And after all, she  _ did _ invite her to dinner. So she nodded, leaned back against the doorframe to allow Quinn space to pass through. 

"You might as well come in then. Papa’s making pasta. Is there anything you can't eat?"

"Tuna. The smell makes me seriously nauseous."

"Oh that's alright then. We don't like tuna in this house anyway." 

Rachel's nose wrinkled in disgust (which Quinn did  _ not _ find that adorable, like, at all). 

"I'll introduce you to my papa."

They walked into the kitchen where Rachel's papa was slowly stirring a pot. He smiled warmly when he when he heard Rachel entering the kitchen, not realizing that Quinn was with her. 

"Hey sweetheart, the pasta should be done in about fifteen. Can you set the table for me?"

"Sure papa. By the way, we have an extra mouth to feed today," she informed him as she took out the plates and cutlery to quickly set the table.

He looked behind him to see a blonde girl, standing awkwardly at the doorway. "Oh hello there."

Rachel pulled him towards the girl to introduce them. "Quinn, this is Steve Berry, my papa. Papa, this is Quinn Fabray, my..." She faltered then, uncertain of what to call Quinn since the blonde had repeated numerous times that they were  _ not _ friends but she knew that they weren’t enemies either.

Quinn quickly filled in the blank, extending her hand towards Rachel's father. "Friend," she blurted out, smiling confidently before looking over at Rachel to see the brunette's smile shining so brightly that made her give herself a mental pat on the back.

Steve smiled, oblivious to what was transpiring between his daughter and this new girl in their lives. "Well Quinn, it's good to finally meet one of Rachel's friends from school. Are you okay to eat my baked chicken pasta?"

"I'm looking forward to it, Sir," she politely replied.

Steve Berry smiled warmly, pleasantly surprised by her manners. "Good to hear. Rachel's dad will be home in a few minutes. You two can go sit in the living room while we wait for him."

"Thanks papa.”

\---

"So was that as painful as you thought it'd be?" Rachel asked as she walked with Quinn to the front door.

The blonde smiled reluctantly, unwilling to show just how  _ not _ painful it was. Seeing Rachel in her element, so relaxed and so carefree (and god, Quinn couldn't help but smile whenever Rachel giggled), interacting with her two fathers, both of whom very obviously  _ adore _ their daughter to bits. At the beginning, it felt surreal, almost. Quinn felt like she was on the outside looking in, felt like she was somebody who realized that she didn't really know what a warm family home actually felt like. She had been to her friends' houses before and she had seen their families, loving and caring for each other, so there was nothing different about the Berry house, compared to these other houses. And then as the dinner went on, she realized that there was something about Rachel and her two dads and the way they treated her, so welcoming and so inviting, that it made Quinn  _ feel _ like she was home. It definitely wasn’t a bad feeling.

She shook her head. "No, it wasn't."

"Just to be clear, we're friends now?"

Quinn's eyes rolled at Rachel's teasing. "Word vomit. I totally didn't know what I was saying," she lamely protested.

Rachel hummed, a knowing grin on her lips as she pulled the door open. She looked outside at the cars parked in the driveway, thoughtful. Quinn watched Rachel's lips curve up into a soft smile as she turns back to face the blonde. 

"You're always welcome for dinner, Quinn. Or you know, any time you need to talk."

The taller girl could only just barely hold back the tears (stupid pregnancy hormones), touched by Rachel's sincere gesture that she almost jumped to accept. But she restrained herself to nonchalantly mutter, hoping Rachel didn't notice that she was actually about to cry. 

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

But Rachel did notice and she internally sighed, wishing that Quinn wasn’t so afraid of being vulnerable in front of her. But she understood that the girl wasn’t used to being so honest about her real feelings so she brushed off Quinn's indifferent reply. 

"I'll see you at school tomorrow then."

"Do you need a ride?"

Rachel grinned, appreciating the offer. "Thank you but it's okay. Kurt is going to pick me up."

"Oh okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

Quinn walked out the door and down the steps. She turned around when she heard her name being called, seeing Rachel with her hand raised in mid-wave.

"Goodnight... Friend?" Rachel said, carefully asking.

The blonde raised her own hand to wave in return, smiling reassuringly and nodding her head. "Goodnight, friend," she softly replied, her heart fluttering at the sight of Rachel's happy brown eyes, knowing that it was because of her. She continued walking towards her car.

"Wait." 

Quinn turned around again to find Rachel making her way towards her and she could feel her baby begin to kick animatedly, like she  _ knew _ the brunette was drawing near. Then suddenly Rachel was kneeling down in front of her, gently cradling either side of Quinn's bump, whispering so softly, "Sweet dreams baby." 

Shocked, the pregnant blonde could only look on as Rachel bestowed a gentle kiss on her belly, but she was still aware of that warm feeling rising in her chest and she was pretty sure that she stopped breathing for awhile there. When brown eyes looked up to meet hers, they were at a standstill, like they had entered a world where it was just them and nobody else. Their eyes stay locked on each other, seeing things they wanted to see but didn’t know if they were true or if it was just wishful thinking.

Suddenly a dog's bark was heard in the distance consequently breaking the spell. Rachel was shaking her head as she got back on her feet, her cheeks noticeably flushed. 

"Sorry, I just, um, well... Bye," she stuttered, then turned to walk quickly back to her front door.

"Bye," Quinn belatedly replied after the door closed, mentally replaying what had just happened, not knowing which one she should try to calm first, her baby or her heart.

And on this night, just as she was about to fall asleep, Quinn placed her hand where she remembered Rachel's lips were, deep down wishing that she could feel the brunette's lips on her own skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm surprised I'm actually keeping to a schedule. Let's hope this sticks, huh? I'm loving that I've been hearing from some old readers. That's pretty cool, and even cooler is that you guys even remember this story/me.
> 
> You know the drill, any mistakes, please let me know, :). Have an awesome weekend!


	4. Chapter Four

“Hey Rachel.”

Quinn didn't really  _ plan _ on saying anything to the girl. She really,  _ really _ , enjoyed having dinner with Rachel and her parents but she didn't want to seem like she was hounding her with her constant presence. It was all very sudden, them being friends. Better to take it slow, right? But as it seemed to be the case lately, Quinn just couldn’t help but move towards Rachel. 

Thinking back to last night when Rachel knelt in front of her, her eyes closed as she kissed Quinn's belly, she couldn't stop the torrent of thoughts that came with that image. And all of them were fantasies of the two girls being together, laughing and playing with each other. Just being two crazy kids that they were, that they  _ should _ be, lost in the pleasures of each other. But then she remembered Finn and she pushed it all to the back of her mind because she didn’t want to hurt him anymore than she will. 

And not to mention the fact that she knew how he was  _ in love _ with Rachel. Knew that some part of him wished that things were different so that he could be with Rachel. And she knew Rachel said that she only saw Finn as a friend but who would really turn down the offer of being with somebody you had always wanted?

But that moment after, when they were just looking at each other? It was like time stood still just for them, and Quinn saw things in those brown eyes that she really didn’t know if it was her own hope that she was projecting or if it was real. She was surprised to find that she actually wanted to believe that they were real, that maybe Rachel was feeling the same thing she was. 

But they only just started this 'friends' thing, and who knew how long  _ that _ was going to last? She could  only hope that her habit of putting down Rachel would eventually subside and she could actually be warm and cordial to the brunette. Which was  _ seriously _ , going to involve a lot of holding back on Quinn's part. An image of Rachel's bright smile and shining eyes flashed through her mind and she knew that Rachel deserved for her to at least try.

“Oh, hi Quinn,” Rachel greeted in return, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and a shy smile pulling at her lips.

“So, how's your day going?” the blonde asked, leaning against the locker to face her.

“It's going really good, thank you for asking,” Rachel paused to take a book out from her locker, “um, how about you?”

“Yeah, it's okay,” she replied with a shrug.

“Great.” The brunette closed her locker door to lean against it, facing Quinn.

“Yeah.”

When she couldn't find something else to say, Rachel began to wonder why conversation between them seemed to be stunted, laced with an underlying subtext that she didn’t quite know how to define. Because even back when they had confrontations, words flowed easily between them, and there was none of this...  _ Awkwardness _ that surrounded them then. 

She thought that maybe, it was to be expected, since they only  _ just _ decided to become friends the night before and it was startlingly new territory for them both. Quinn was used to insulting Rachel, or just plain avoiding her. And Rachel was used to those mean words hurtling towards her, and had come to expect it from the blonde. Now they were honest-to-goodness trying to be friends, who  _ shouldn't _ insult or avoid each other; who  _ shouldn't _ expect those insults to be directed at them.  _ Definitely _ , very new territory. It was shaky ground and if done wrong, could potentially give way and swallow them whole or if done right, could lead to one of the best things they had ever had.

However whereas Quinn felt apprehension, Rachel felt more excitement bubbling inside her that she finally had the chance to show Quinn that they could be really, really good friends. But she was still somewhat fearful that this could prove too good to be true. That this opportunity could be easily snatched away from her. And she didn’t want to overwhelm Quinn with her enthusiasm. 

She could just hear the train of full sentences forming in her mind, desperate to spill from her lips, but she was afraid that too much too fast would make Quinn realize that befriending her wasn’t worth her time and thus rescind her decision to be Rachel's friend just as quickly.

She cringed at her moment of spontaneity when she got down on her knees and gave Quinn's pregnant belly that tender kiss. Admittedly, she had thought about doing it when they were standing at her door, but she was too afraid that it would be a misstep so she brushed the thought away as soon as it entered her head. But as she watched Quinn walking away from her, she just couldn't stop herself. 

Rachel didn’t regret what she did, but she really wished she could have left it to much later, later when they would at least have more time to be comfortable enough with each other to do _that_ , and not when they _just_ confirmed the start of their friendship. She knew that she was going to have to start really slow with Quinn, so they could actually get used to each other. And also so that Quinn could get used to _not_ calling her 'Man-hands' or whatever names she came up with before anymore.  

And for the first time in her life, Rachel actually felt...  _ Nervous _ . She mentally ran through the things she could say to Quinn until she finally remembered something. “So, I was wondering something...”

The blonde nodded, indicating that she was listening and waiting for Rachel to continue.

“Well, Kurt told me earlier that his dad told him to let me know that my car isn't going to be ready for another few days, which naturally, is upsetting because I love driving and it really hinders my freedom to go whenever I please and my parents won't be able to pick me up because of work. And Kurt would send me home but he's going shopping with Mercedes and I don't want to disturb him and-”

“Berry,” Quinn interrupted, knowing that it was going to be a long time before the naturally verbose girl made her point and they really needed to get to class soon. She smiled, amused when Rachel instantly snapped her mouth shut. “Do you need a ride home?”

“Yes,” she blurted out, then added, “I mean, if it's not too much trouble?”

Quinn smiled reassuringly and shook her head. “No. It isn't.”

“Would you like to stay over for dinner again? Since it's the weekend you could stay for family movie night. Or we could just talk about what we're going to do about... y'know. That is, if you want to. And if it's too late when we're done you can always stay the night. I mean, you don't  _ need _ to stay the night if you don't want to. I'm sorry. That was very presumptuous of me to think you would want to stay the night. I completely understand if you don't-”

Rachel's mouth clicked shut once again when Quinn raised her hand to stop her babbling. “I do. Want to. Stay the night, I mean.”

The blonde shook her head, annoyed with her stuttered sentences. She took a deep breath and let it out, hoping it would calm the fluttery nerves in her belly at the thought of staying over at Rachel's house. “I'll just tell Finn to not expect me.”

“Great! That's um, great.”

“See you in Glee?”

“See you in Glee.”

As she watched Rachel walk towards her class, watched the gently sway of Rachel's sinfully short skirt, Quinn decided that however long this 'friends' thing would last? She  _ really _ hoped that it would be for a very, very long while to come.

\---

“Before or after Sectionals?”

It was after dinner, and the two girls were on the couch, sitting some distance across from each other, half-watching  _ Funny Girl _ and half-planning when exactly Quinn would tell Finn about the baby's true paternity, and what she could do after. Quinn was surprised that Rachel wasn’t actually  _ forcing _ her to pay attention to the movie as she had mentioned many times before that this was her favourite movie. 

Rachel's parents were having a drink in the kitchen, talking quietly together and making the blonde think of her own parents, both of whom loved their drink, but never attempted to be as quiet when talking. She wondered to herself what they were doing at this very moment. Were they thinking about her? Did they ever think about her? Did they even miss her?

“After. I'm pretty sure that he's not going to want to see me and we need him to perform.”

Rachel's eyebrows knitted together, giving Quinn a worried look. “You don't think he's going to kick you out, do you? I mean yes, this will hurt him but kicking you out wouldn't be right. It'd be downright cruel.”

“Keeping something like this from him is another level of cruel too, Rachel,” she blankly pointed out.

“Yes well, nobody's really a saint or a sinner at the same time, so even if you are wrong for keeping this from him, he would be just as wrong if he told you to leave,” the brunette argued. “Where would you go though?”

Quinn paused, her mind scrolling down the names of friends she could possibly stay with, and she found that there weren’t many people she would feel very comfortable in asking. It saddened her that despite the fact that she was the most popular girl in the school, she could only count her true friends on at least one hand. “I don't know. Maybe Brittany's? I don't think Santana is going to want to see me either though, considering she and Puck were going out when we slept together.”

Rachel sat back in shock. 

“Oh Quinn,” she whispered, her heart lamenting for all the hurt this truth was going to potentially cause. And it ached even more when she saw Quinn's eyes begin to glisten and were so completely vulnerable, and she knew that Quinn more than understood the consequences of her actions and words would never be able to express how truly sorry she was.

“I know. Tangled web, right?” the blonde commented dispiritedly.

“And you've been living with this for all this time? How did you even handle that?”

“I want to say through sheer will and determination. But the power of denial can be very strong too,” she remarked dryly, the look in her eyes betraying the stormy emotions inside her.

“I don't think staying at Brittany's would work then Quinn, considering she and Santana are practically joined at the hip.” 

Then Rachel looked away, biting her bottom lip. She hesitated for another beat before quietly voicing out a thought that had been present in her mind since Quinn revealed everything to her, “I know we're only in the early stages of our friendship but, it would still be remiss of me if I didn't say that you can always stay here, with us? You can consider tonight as a trial or something.”

The blonde looked at her, as she tried to avoid eye-contact so Quinn was forced to gape at the side of her face instead. “Are you sure?”

Rachel turned back to look at her, and Quinn gulped at the intensity of those brown eyes burning into her own. “Of course. We  _ are _ friends, Quinn, and this is what friends do for each other.”

“Friends give friends who are actually their former enemies their spare room after they tell their boyfriends that they're not actually pregnant with his child?” she quipped.

Realizing that Quinn was trying to alleviate the suddenly tense moment between them, Rachel succinctly replied, “Exactly.”

“Though to be perfectly honest? I never really thought of you as an enemy,” she added.

“Me neither.”

“So how about it? Would you be able to handle me as a house-mate? I assure you that I'm not as annoying at home as I am in school,” she solemnly promised. “I mean, it has only ever been my dads and myself in this house. They are all I've ever known all my life and they've made this house a home, and this is the one place I know that I am loved by the only people I'll ever truly trust. And I know that if you do decide to stay here, you will be loved just as much.”

“Your parents would really be okay with me being here?”

“Yes, they really  _ would _ be okay with you being here. I'm sure they'll be very happy to have you. But if it makes you feel better, I will ask them.”

“Let's just cross that bridge about where I'll stay, when we come to it, okay? I don't really want to think about that right now,” she said, hoping to end this line of conversation and onto something less than heavy.

“Fine,” Rachel gave in reluctantly. “But we  _ will _ revisit this subject once you've had more time to think.” She kept looking at Quinn until the blonde finally nodded and she relaxed her stare. “Now, what about Noah?”

“What about him?”

“Well, he  _ is _ the father of this baby. He is going to want to be involved,” Rachel stated matter-of-factly.

“I don't understand why he does. He should be glad that I don't want him helping with the responsibilities.”

“Noah's a better guy than you give him credit, Quinn. I know if you asked him, he would give you the money that you need for maternity clothes and the bills.”

“How do you have so much faith in a guy who threw slushies at you since you started your high school career?”

“It's not so much different then when you were throwing hurtful insults at me.”

She flinched at first but then saw Rachel’s sympathetic smile, letting her know that the brunette didn't mean anything harsh by what she said. She was just stating a fact. Her eyes narrowed into a glare that Rachel returned with a smirk. “For my own peace of mind, just how long are you going to be holding that against me?”

The other girl placed a finger on her chin, as if to give some real thought to her answer and Quinn was pretty sure that she could see a mischievous glint flashing in brown eyes. “I'm Jewish, so, for the rest of our lives.”

“Excellent,” she muttered, rolling her eyes, but then smiled when she heard Rachel giggle. “Fine, I'll talk to him.”

“That's all I ask. I just want to make sure you have a plan, Quinn. At least I don't have to worry about you. Not that I don't worry about you as it is but, I don't have to worry  _ as _ much. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah.”

Quinn wished that there was a way for her to show her gratitude without seeming like the hormonal pregnant girl that she was, but she knew her eyes were already filled with tears and she could feel her baby kicking at this instant which, for whatever reason, was making her even  _ more _ emotional than usual. Impulsively, she reached over to take Rachel's hand and placed it on her belly, allowing the other girl to feel the baby's movements against her palm. The brunette's eyes widened, still surprised and completely amazed at the reaction the baby had to her presence.

“Thank you,” Quinn whispered.

Rachel scooted closer, keeping her hand where it was, until she was near enough to lean down and plant a kiss on Quinn's stomach like she did the night before. Because this time, she  _ really _ didn’t want to stop herself. She  _ wanted _ to do it and this time she didn’t kick herself for her action because that tended look in Quinn's eyes? It told her that the blonde really didn’t mind at all. Her breath caught when she looked up and her brown eyes met with contented hazel ones, belatedly realizing that their hands were still tightly grasped together.

“Anytime,” she finally whispered in return, her smile widening when she felt the baby give their connected hands a strong thud in appreciation.

The spell that kept the girls eyes locked on each other's was broken again when Rachel's parents came in the room to let the girls know that they were on their way to bed. Rachel raised her head back up but didn’t move away from Quinn, only wished her parents a good night and sweet dreams, then returned her attention to the television screen as she tried to calm her racing heartbeat. They continued to watch the movie and as the hour passed, without noticing it, no space was left in between them as they leaned against each other, their fingers still unnoticeably intertwined.

\---

It was midday Saturday and Rachel was helping her papa cook brunch while her dad was doing a little cleaning around the house. Quinn had left earlier that morning to return to Finn's house as Finn wanted to take her out to spend some time together. Rachel was secretly disappointed that Quinn couldn't stay for the day but she knew she couldn’t really keep Quinn away from her boyfriend.

She thought back to that moment they had last night before her parents interrupted them. Thought that if they had just another minute or so, she could have kissed Quinn. She didn't know if she would have, just that she  _ could _ have. Rachel was pretty sure that if Quinn kept acting the way she had been towards her, there was a fairly big chance that Rachel might actually develop  _ feelings _ for the girl, and there  _ definitely _ wouldn’t be anything stopping her from kissing the blonde. And that was a path of thought that she could not go down because Quinn already had so many things to deal with; a friend who was harbouring a huge crush on her should not even be on her radar. 

And while that upset her, for now Rachel was perfectly fine with their friendship that she was certain, was going very well as they spent the night talking into the early hours until Quinn couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Being friends was enough.

“Sweetheart, could you pass me the salt?”

“Sure.”

The Berry household recently discovered the joys of cooking after Rachel off-handedly suggested that perhaps it was time to put down the take-out menus and give cooking a shot. Baking cookies was the extent of Rachel's knowledge when it came to the kitchen, and she figured that it would be a valuable lesson to take with her when she struck it on her own in New York. Also, her parents' careers didn’t really allow them to spend very much time with her during the week so when the weekend came, they took advantage of their free time to be together and do whatever came to mind. What better way to bond than to cook a meal together?

When they first started however, it turned out that her dad most definitely could _ not _ be caught trying to cook anything in the kitchen, after that one incident when he tried to cook rice without water, and put way too much salt on the chicken. So he was promptly kicked out of the kitchen, allowing Rachel and her papa to deal with the cooking while he dealt with other house chores. It worked out well for Rachel as it brought her and her papa closer together to bond over recipes and cooking them as she was already close with her dad over their love of music and singing.

“So... It was nice having Quinn over again yesterday.”

“Yes, it was,” she replied distractedly, trying to concentrate on cutting up the peppers.

“I really wish she didn't feel she has to call me 'Sir' though. Makes me feel so  _ ancient _ ,” he whined, and Rachel laughed when she saw her daddy attempt to pout.

“But you  _ are _ ancient, papa,” she teased.

His blue eyes widened and his mouth opens to gape in mock horror. “Hush child. Or I'm sending you away to a convent,” he playfully threatened, narrowing his gaze into a glare.

Rachel raised her hands in surrender and turned back to her assigned kitchen duty. Steve Berry watched as his only daughter hummed happily while slicing and dicing the vegetables for the salad. He took note of her smile that seemed brighter and the spark in her eyes, and he smirked, having an inkling of why she was acting the way she was. Quinn Fabray's recent entrance into their lives was an unexpected but lovely surprise. And he knew from the moment Rachel introduced her to him, that there was  _ something _ brewing between the two girls. And he didn't really mean to, but he heard parts of their conversation the night before. While he was indeed, concerned for Quinn's well-being, he was more worried about his dear Rachel and her fragile heart. He didn’t want her to give so much of herself to somebody with issues she might not be equipped to handle just yet. But he also knew that Rachel wouldn’t ever give up on Quinn, and there was little that he could do to stop her.

“So when are you going to tell your dad and I about you inviting your friend to stay here should her boyfriend decide to kick her out?”

Now it was Rachel's turn to gape at her daddy. “When you stop eavesdropping on  _ private _ conversations,” she scolded, throwing a strip of green pepper at him which he managed to dodge in time.

He gave her an innocent smile, replying earnestly, “That was the first time! I never had many opportunities to be a nosy papa. I couldn't just deprive myself of the chance.” He brought up something that had stuck in his mind since last night. “You two were enemies?”

“I don't think we were necessarily  _ enemies _ , but we weren't friends either. She's the popular girl and I'm... Not, so we didn't really connect,” she explained, intentionally leaving out the more specific details, “but she's a good person, papa. She just lost herself somewhere in the shuffle.”

“Alright. I trust your judgement, Rachel.”

“Thank you, daddy,” she smiled gratefully. “To be fair, I  _ was _ going to ask you and dad beforehand anyway. Quinn said that she would feel more comfortable to have your permission. So is it okay?”

“Of course, sweetheart. But only if she actually  _ wants _ to and it is of her own volition, and  _ not _ because you cornered her and talked her into submission.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Hush father. Or I'm sending you away to a nursing home.”

He gasped, scandalized and pretended to collapse to the floor after her playful warning. She laughed gleefully, shaking her head at her papa’s dramatic antics.

\---

Quinn counted down from three before she picked up her cell phone, scrolling down her contacts list. Finn was out running an errand for his mom so she had a few minutes to get this done. She clicked on the name she wanted to call, her heart-beat picking up speed as she listening to the ringing tone, waiting for them to pick up. When she heard a gruff 'hello', she quickly said his name. “Puck.”

“What do you want, princess?” he asked.

“I told Rachel.”

“Told Rachel what?”

“About you, me, and the baby.”

For a moment, Quinn thought that Puck hung up on her in shock, but she could still hear his breathing, low and harsh. So she waited for him to gather his thoughts. “She knows I'm the dad?” 

It was hard for Quinn to miss the awe in his voice, the catch in his breath, the amazed tone and she wondered just how much more guilt she could shoulder before she  _ collapsed _ . She knew he was thinking that it wasn’t Finn, but it was still a step closer in the right direction.

“Yeah.”

“What made you do it?” he asked.

“She kicks when Rachel sings.”

“She's kicking?”

“Yeah. And Rachel, well, she kind of caught me in an awkward moment so everything just kind of spilled out. Don't worry though. She promised me that she won't tell Finn.”

“Yes because god forbid that the golden boy should ever find out the truth,” he muttered sarcastically.

She sighed tiredly, exhausted by this particular turn in conversation and she wished that Rachel was here to help her with this. Rachel would know the right things to say. “Look Puck, I'm really sorry I've been keeping you at arm's length with this baby thing. Rachel made me see why I should accept you as her father. And she's right.”

“So you're going to let me in?”

“I'm accepting you as the baby's father, yes,” she repeated.

“We are going to be the  _ hottest _ family in Lima. You'll see. I'll earn enough money and we can buy a house toge-”

She panicked when he said 'family' and she knew that was definitely  _ not _ what she wanted. “No. No, Puck. I meant that you will get to be her father and  _ that's it _ . I don't want to be with you.”

“Why not? We'd be good together,” he said m, as though it was the simplest thing in the world. But it wasn’t. Because there was Finn. And there was Rachel.

“No, we won't. You said that you're a guy who has needs. And I'm really not interested in meeting those needs. Once was enough for me.”

He scoffed in disbelief. “Whatever. Your loss.”

“I'm sure I'll survive,” she muttered.

“I should tell you then that Mercedes knows too.”

Her grip on her phone tightened, trying to restrain herself from unleashing an irrational, hormonal tantrum at him when she had just told him that she spilled their secret to somebody else too. “How?”

“It was when we were partners for the ballad thing and it just came out. Kurt probably knows as well.”

“That means Tina and Artie might know too.”

“Maybe.”

“It's fine. If they haven't told Finn, that means they won't tell him yet.”

“When are we telling Finn?”

“After Sectionals. And  _ I'm _ telling him,” she insisted, making sure that Puck understands that she wanted to do this on her own. “Don't worry. He's not going to hurt me. No matter how hurt and angry he will be, he won't hurt me.”

“Do you need a place to stay?” he asked, his voice soft and maybe even caring.

“Thanks for the offer. But Rachel already said that I could stay with her.”

“You guys best buddies now that she knows your deepest darkest secret?” he asked, sounding almost amused.

“Don't flatter yourself. This is not my deepest darkest secret.” Sensing his next question, she quickly interjected, “And no, I'm not telling you what it actually is.”

“Suit yourself, princess.” Quinn thought that was the end of the conversation and almost hung up when she heard a soft, “Thanks,” coming through the phone's speaker.

“See you at school, Puck.”

\---

It had been a week since Quinn slept over at her house and since then Rachel liked to think that they had both made great strides in their friendship. They weren't hiding it but for the most part, they were discreet about it because they knew that people would make a big stink about it and that was just something they couldn’t be bothered to deal with.  

After Quinn told him about the change in their previously tumultuous relationship, Finn had actually approached Rachel and told her that he was honestly uncomfortable with the new development but he was going to try to not be weird about it. He knew his girlfriend missed having somebody to talk to since she had been kicked out of her parents' house, and he knew from experience that Rachel was a good friend to have in your corner (it made Rachel blush to know that Finn thought so highly of her). And truthfully, he hadn’t seen Quinn this happy and free in a long time, and it was really nice when she was because it got her off his back about all the baby stuff.

Their friends in Glee were different though. Spending hours in close quarters, you tended to notice when things change, whether it was a small or big change. Rachel and Quinn becoming friends was  _ definitely _ not a small change. To the untrained eye (meaning the rest of the school body that  _ wasn’t _ part of Glee club), on the surface, everything was the same. But the Glee kids couldn't help but notice when Quinn had all but stopped insulting Rachel; when both girls would be engaged in an actual  _ civil _ conversation. Couldn't help but notice that when the two girls did get into a fight, it seemed almost playful and full of friendly banter. They definitely were not able to hide their shock whenever Quinn actually asked, in front of everyone in the room, whether she could watch Rachel practice that afternoon. And it was really much too impossible to miss Rachel's bright smile and enthusiastic yes.

Though that was the extent of what they saw. They didn't see the way Rachel would smile sweetly at Quinn, the way she  _ used _ to smile at Finn. Or the way Quinn would convince Rachel to sing to her and the baby, as she held Rachel's hand to her belly, feeling the baby's kicks together. Nobody saw the way one girl would unconsciously look around the room until they found who they were looking for, and god, the way their eyes lit up when they finally found each other. Nobody saw the sparks between them. Nobody noticed. And neither did the two girls in question.

But now Quinn was ignoring her. And Rachel didn’t know why because the blonde seemed fine earlier. They had lunch together in the music room after Rachel practised for awhile and they had fun discussing Quinn's ideas of baby names. Quinn seemed fine then. Rachel didn’t have any definite plans for the approaching weekend and was hoping to ask Quinn if she wanted to sleep over again. 

But the blonde was sitting all the way across the room, away from her, next to Puck and avoiding her whenever she tried to smile at her. So Rachel pouted, sat on her own with her arms crossed and trying to remember whether she had done anything wrong that would have upset Quinn.

In the middle of her musing, Santana plopped down on the chair next to hers. “What's got your panties in a twist, Berry? You look like somebody just stole one of your solos.”

“The state of my panties are none of your concern, thank you very much, Santana.”

She felt Santana's dark eyes boring into her, trying to figure her out. “Right,” she drawled instead.

Rachel knew that Santana never really liked her, probably didn’t even like her now especially since Brittany decided that she and Rachel were going to be really good friends. She knew that Santana only tolerated her company for Brittany, at best. But recently, it seemed like Santana had been somewhat thawing. Not by much, but at least she didn’t roll her eyes at Rachel much anymore. She liked to think that there was more to Santana than just the cold, bitch façade she put up because she did get immeasurably sweet whenever Brittany was around and Rachel was pretty sure that there had to be a good heart in there.

“Where's Brittany?”

“She's just getting something from her locker. She's got some solo dance recital thing coming up and she wants you to help her with the music.”

Rachel smiled, glad for the distraction from having to think of Quinn. “Oh, that's great! I can't wait to see what she has.”

Before she could stop herself, Rachel subtly took a quick glance around the room, pretending to see who else was present but only wanting to see one person in particular. And her searching brown eyes finally landed on Quinn and she noted the blonde sitting despondently with her head down, looking at her hands in her lap. Rachel's heart clenched painfully at the sad sight and she wished that there was something she could do to cheer the girl up but it didn’t seem like Quinn wanted to talk to her right now. She didn't realize how badly it would hurt to have Quinn ignore her so easily.

“So Berry.”

“Yes, Santana?”

“What's up with you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“You seriously don't think you can start hanging around with Amy Juergens, and people won't want to ask questions?”

Her confusion escalated. “Amy Juergens?”

“ _ Secret Life _ ? Doesn't ring a bell? Seriously? We  _ really _ need to update you on your pop culture, Berry. This is just sad,” Santana said, shaking her head.

Rachel huffed, annoyed. “Well  _ excuse _ me if my extra-curricular activities keep me so occupied that-”

The Cheerio knew well enough when the tiny brunette was about to get into a long tirade about her extra-curricular activities so she rolled her eyes and interrupted her before Rachel could  _ really _ get started, “Yeah yeah, whatever. What's up with you and Preggers?”

“Quinn?” Rachel hoped that Santana didn’t notice the way her voice wavered when she mentioned the blonde's name.

“Yes,  _ Quinn _ . Do you know anybody else in this school who got knocked up?” Rachel shook her head. “Then?”

“Nothing is going on between Quinn and I.”

“Right.” she replied, the look in her eyes letting Rachel know just how much the taller brunette did  _ not _ believe her.

“I assure you, there is absolutely  _ nothing _ going on. She has just been to my house for dinner a couple of times,” she insisted.

“And?”

“We're just friends, Santana. Please just drop the inquisition.”

“ _ Fine _ .”

Rachel sighed in relief that the Cheerio completely dropped the line of questioning and she braced herself for the next hour.

\---

Rachel really could not stand for this any longer. She  _ needed _ to talk to Quinn and ask what happened. For all of their time in Glee, Quinn somehow managed to not talk to Rachel and  _ completely _ avoided eye-contact without anybody raising any questions. Finn and Puck noticed the tension between the two girls but only shook their heads and shrugged because they didn't want to get in the middle of the girl drama. But Brittany kept Rachel mostly occupied, discussing the music for her dance recital while Quinn stayed glued to Finn while talking quietly to Kurt.

But she  _ knew _ that Quinn  _ did _ look at her because she could  _ feel _ that electric feeling whenever hazel eyes landed on her, that same electric feeling that had somehow  _ intensified _ since the two girls began this friendship. When she was having a little jam session with Brittany and Artie, she knew that Quinn was watching her. Knew that Quinn was smiling because her baby was kicking. Rachel knew all of this because she could feel it all. There was no pretending, no denying it. She feared that maybe she finally crossed a line that Quinn wasn't ready or willing to cross. That maybe she had said or done something to upset the blonde. And even though Rachel was afraid of finding out why, she was not a fan of keeping the metaphorical band-aid on for too long and preferred to take it off as soon as possible.

“Quinn,” she called out when she finally caught up to her at the exit, walking quickly towards the parking lot.

“Not today, Man-hands,” Quinn barked harshly. “I'm  _ not _ in the mood to deal with you right now.”

For the first time ever, Rachel actually  _ cowered _ at the insult, shrunk inside herself at Quinn's biting tone because whatever defence she used to have against Quinn Fabray before, they were all gone. And she felt completely bare and so painfully raw like a newly opened wound and Quinn had just poured salt into it. “I apologize. I'll just... I'll see you on Monday then. I’m sorry,” she stammered.

“Whatever.”

Rachel watched Quinn walk away from her and even though it had only been a week, she wondered if she could even remember what her life was like before Quinn had meticulously weaved herself into it.

\---

As a teenager in high school, the weekend meant only one thing: No school, which then meant that it was the time to either have or go to a party, so you could meet up with that person you had your eye on for a while. Or it could also mean you were going on a date with that very same person. It was even the time when you'd go out with friends and just hang out. 

But that was not the case for Quinn anymore. She couldn’t go out to a party, or even have one. She couldn’t even go out on a date because her boyfriend was at a party without her. Instead, she was lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling while an overwhelming guilt completely took over her body, threatening to choke her, as she thought about the way she treated Rachel earlier. 

The way that Rachel tried to get her attention in Glee. The way she tried to get her to talk to her afterwards. And god, the way that insult just  _ spilled _ out of her lips was so terrifyingly easy. It was classic Quinn Fabray, Head Cheerio behaviour, like somebody pressed the default button on her brain and that happened.

Though in a way, somebody did.

_ “We need to talk.  _ Now _.” _

_ Quinn turned to roll her eyes in Santana's direction, undaunted by the other girl's demanding glare. “Dramatic much? What's up with you?” _

_ The blonde really wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever PMS issues Santana was currently having. She was having a relatively good day. Morning sickness seemed to have been abated for the time being. Rachel had let her watch her practice during lunch hour, where they got to share the food that Rachel's papa prepared for her. They even talked about the baby names she came across in the library.  _

_ So she just wanted to go to Glee so they could practice for Sectionals, and then hang out with Rachel some more, hoping that the tiny brunette would invite her to dinner at her house again, and maybe to stay the night too. Finn had asked her earlier if she wanted to go to a party and she declined, knowing that she wasn't going to have any fun anyway. She wondered belatedly if Rachel was going to the same party as Finn had mentioned that the Glee kids had been invited too. _

_ “Look Juno, there’s no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it.” _

_ “Okay,” she replied, impatiently waiting for Santana to continue. _

_ “What are you doing with Berry?” _

_ Quinn felt her heart-rate picking up quickly, suddenly afraid about where this line of questioning was going when Santana mentioned Rachel's name. She could only thank god for all the times she had to pretend, that she was able to not outwardly show just how much she was already panicking. “What are you talking about?” _

_ The darker girl looked around, making sure that nobody else was listening to their conversation. She leaned in, whispering harshly, “I don't know what you think you're doing but don't think I haven't seen you making eyes at our resident diva this past week.” Quinn's eyes widened in alarm. “Yeah, exactly. What do you think Finn is going to say?” _

_ “He's not going to say anything because there is nothing to tell him.” _

_ “Oh yeah? You really think so?” _

_ “Just because I'm not head Cheerio any-more doesn't mean I still can't get you under my thumb, Lopez,” she snarled, giving Santana her best glare before walking away towards her class. _

_ “Whatever, Q.” _

_ Annoyed, Quinn turned back around, seeing Santana still standing where she left her, her arms crossed and a dark scowl across her striking features. “Look, what is the problem? I thought you and Berry are friends.” She smirked knowing that even though Santana had stopped putting up a fight over Brittany being friends with Rachel, didn't mean that she liked it; didn't mean that she wanted it to be public knowledge that she actually hung out with Rachel because her girlfriend did. And any other time, Quinn would have found Santana's reaction amusing, dark brown eyes bugged out and mouth completely agape, but not this time. Not this time because Santana stomped towards her, like 'fee-phi-fo-fum' stomped and she was almost afraid that the other girl would have no qualms about hitting her. “Shut your god-damn mouth, Fabray. People can  _ hear _ you.” _

_ “Look, I don't have time for this. I'm late for class, but because I'm in a generous mood, you can lecture me properly when school lets out.” _

_ “To hell with that,” she growled out, snatched Quinn's arm, pulling her into an empty classroom. _

_ Quinn pulled her arm away from Santana's strong grip. “Now that you've  _ successfully _ dislocated my arm, care to share with the class with  _ what the hell _ is your problem?” the blonde spat out, rubbing her shoulder. _

_ “ _ I _ don't have a problem. I just think that if you keep doing what you're doing,  _ you're _ going to have a problem.” _

_ Hazel eyes narrowed, “Is that a threat?” _

_ “I think you've issued enough threats to know what they sound like.” _

_ Quinn walked to the door to make sure that nobody else was on the other side, listening to their conversation. “What do you want then?” _

_ Santana's demand was short and simple. “Stay away from Berry.” The blonde's head whipped back in shock. _

_ Quinn's mind raced, wondering why Santana was doing this to her. Rachel was the one truly  _ good _ thing in her life then; the one person that made her smile without even trying. Why did Santana want to take that away? Did she see something? Were Quinn's stares too obvious? Too much?  But that didn't make sense. Santana was with Brittany so she should be the  _ last _ person to ever judge for whatever feelings she may have for Rachel. _

_ The tanned girl scoffed when she pointed this out to her. “This has  _ nothing _ to do with me and Brittany. This is about you and Berry.” _

_ “There is no me and that midget,” she declared, her fists tightening, hating the lie that slipped too easily from her lips. She thought she heard an angry growl coming from the other girl but she dismissed it as Santana trying to intimidate her again. _

_ “Well you make sure it stays that way then. Or else.” _

_ “Or else what?” _

_ “You don't want to know,” Santana replied in a tone that left Quinn feeling cold and very afraid. Santana pressed an even harder glare at her before walking out of the room. It unnerved her that Santana was holding something above her head and she didn't know what it was. She didn't even know if she  _ wanted _ to know. But if she knew Santana well, she had a feeling it wouldn't end very well for her. _

_ She was leaning against the teacher's table when she heard a knock on the door and she saw Brittany standing in the doorway, “Hey Quinn.” _

_ “Hey Britt. You just missed Santana.” _

_ The taller blonde nodded. “I know. I saw her walk out earlier. Was she talking to you about Rachel?” _

_ Quinn huffed, wondering just who  _ else _ noticed this thing between her and Rachel. Who  _ else _ wanted to keep them apart? Her heart ached because she knew she was going to have to ignore Rachel later in Glee until she could figure out what to do with Santana. She could just see the look on Rachel's face once she realized that Quinn wasn't talking to her. But not knowing what Santana had in mind, scared Quinn witless. She was at a loss and she felt unstable. She could feel her baby kicking and it gave her no comfort. It all just made her so very  _ angry _. _

_ “Yeah, more like threatening me to keep my distance. Are you sure they're friends?” she asked spitefully. _

_ Brittany blinked at Quinn's harsh tone and she was biting her bottom lip as she shrugged. “She doesn't roll her eyes at Rachel as much anymore.” _

_ “I don't get it. Why does she want me to stay away from Rachel?” Her breath hitched on the brunette's name, and she could feel the lump in her throat. She wanted to cry but she was just so upset and angry. And it was the anger that she knew better than tears. _

_ “Santana works in mysterious ways,” was Brittany's vague reply which really, only prompted Quinn's anger even more. _

_ “No, Brittany.  _ God _ works in mysterious ways.  _ Santana _ works in annoyingly untoward ways,” she responds sarcastically. _

_ With those final words hanging in the air, Quinn angrily stalked off towards the bathroom, knowing there was not much point to go to class and decided to skip until it was time for Glee. _

\---

Quinn had planned to talk to Rachel after Glee, or at the very least, once they were out of Santana's eye-sight. But it was like the taller brunette knew what Quinn was going to do. The blonde  could see Santana following her when Rachel called out her name. In her mind, she could hear the warning in Santana's voice, see the threat in her eyes. And for whatever reason, she could hear her parents yelling at her, just being so  _ angry _ with her. And then seeing those hurt and concerned brown eyes looking at her, Quinn felt the pressure coming from  _ everywhere _ and she felt like she couldn't breathe. And she couldn't stop herself when she lashed out at the very person who really didn't deserve it at all. She wished that she could take back what she said to Rachel. Because when she saw Rachel actually  _ flinching _ afterwards? She  _ hated _ herself. She hates that she hurt Rachel, and she knew she had to fix this. As soon as possible.

And she knew that come Monday, Brittany or no Brittany, she was going to have some  _ very _ strong words with a certain Miss Lopez.


	5. Chapter Five

They say that there was a reason why there was suffering in the world. That for every suffering, we would break. We would break and we would cry until there was no more. And that was where we learn to find the strength in ourselves to heal. We were not brand new but scarred, and we carried these scars into every new stage of our lives, collecting new ones as we went. The old ones might fade in time but they were always there so we wouldn’t forget. 

This was what Rachel told herself after every slushie facial, after every hurtling insult, after every rejection. It helped her know that everything that had happened, was just making her stronger. So she didn’t know why the ache she was feeling right now, felt so fresh, so new, so much more magnified than what she used to feel, like she had never been hurt before. It didn’t make any sense.

Her phone rang not for the first time today, and just as she expected, Quinn's name and picture appeared on the screen. She clicked 'Reject'. A few minutes after, she was alerted that a new voicemail was waiting for her.

That had been happening all weekend now. Quinn calling, and then leaving voicemails. Rachel never picked up, and chose not to listen to any of the voicemails. She couldn't even bring herself to read the texts that Quinn sent. She didn’t know what would happen once she chose to pick up the phone or listen to even one of the voicemails the blonde left for her. She only knew that she couldn't bear to talk to Quinn or even  _ hear _ her voice right now.

“Rachel?” She looked up from her phone to see her papa leaning against the doorway, concern etched all over his face. Her phone started ringing again. “Sweetheart, I've been hearing that thing going off for the past two days. Are you ever going to answer that?”

“I'm thinking about it.”

She  _ was _ thinking about it. She was thinking about the many possible ways the conversation between her and the blonde would go. It ranged between her crying desperately into the phone to her yelling out in anger and pouring out the hurt that she had been feeling all weekend. She thought about what Quinn could possibly say that would make everything fine again.  _ Did _ the blonde want everything to be fine again? 

Then she thought about the look on Quinn's face when she said those harsh words, Rachel's heart broke all over again and she could feel that burn in the back of her eyes, and she knew that tears were about to fall. She thought then that until she could get a more rational grip on her turbulent emotions, she didn’t want to talk to Quinn at all. And somehow, her heart shattered at the thought of that too, because she really didn’t know when  _ that _ would be.

That was the only reason why she hadn’t switched her phone off, or at least turned it to silent. The fact that she could still hear her phone going off and she could still see Quinn's name and face flashing on the screen, it brought her some kind of comfort. Like it was the only link she had to Quinn and for now, it was all she can really handle.

It had been such a long while since he had heard that morose tone. Both he and his husband had noticed that their only daughter had been walking around the house, almost aimlessly, and Rachel had  _ never _ done anything aimlessly before. The expression she wore on her face was far more heart-wrenching than they had seen from all the other times she would come back home from school upset about a slushie or a well-crafted insult that got under her skin. The night before, they agreed that Steve would approach Rachel and find out just what had been plaguing her mind. “Who is it? Is it that Jacob boy harrassing you again? Because we can always talk to his mother again-”

Rachel shook her head. “No papa. It's not Jacob.” She looked down at her ringing phone, holding it up so he could see Quinn's face before him. “It's Quinn,” she said as he watched her press the 'Reject' button.

“Did something happen?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I'm just not sure what,” she added, her voice wavering with the insecurity that she felt.

Steve frowned in confusion. “I don't understand.”

“Me neither.” She looked back up at him with teary brown eyes. “She just changed on me, daddy. The Quinn I got to know, the one that I was,  _ am _ , sure is the real Quinn, is lost to me.” She sighed. “Again.”

He went to sit next to her, tugging her small body to his, wanting to comfort her. His heart ached when she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face into his shoulder and he could hear a muffled sniffle. “She can't be that lost if she has been trying to call so frequently. What did she do?”

She pulled away from him, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and she sighed again. “I should be used to it, papa. All those names that people say to me, that  _ she _ used to say to me, I hear them almost every day. I  _ am _ used to them. But when I heard her call me that name again, it was like I heard it for very the first time. And I couldn't handle it. I let my guard down because I thought she was my friend. I was so  _ stupid _ .”

Steve shook his head in disagreement, hugging her back towards him. “Oh sweetheart, no.” When he heard a muffled sob, he raised his hand to run his fingers through her chestnut hair, knowing that it always made her feel better. “Rachel, there's  _ nothing _ wrong with letting your guard down. That's what it means to care about people, and have them care about you.” He nudged her off his shoulder so he could make eye-contact with her and his heart clenched painfully at her sad eyes. “Even though you know they have all the power to hurt you, you let them.”

Rachel sighed, lowering her gaze down to her lap. “But  _ why _ do people do it?  _ Why _ hurt the ones they're supposed to care about?”

Steve took a good look at Rachel, the defeated slump of her shoulders, her down-turned lips. He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to protect herself from the hurt that he knew was  _ raging _ inside her. His daughter had always been so in tune with her emotions, able to feel them completely as they came to her. He had never felt so helpless and even though he wished that he could help her, he knew that this was one of those important moments in Rachel's life that she had to work out on her own. But he had faith that she possessed the strength to get through this, so all he could really offer her was his guidance.

He shrugged sadly. “Sometimes people do things that they think are for the best. Other times people just react from outside circumstances that has nothing to do with the person that they hurt.” He took the phone from her hands. “I'm sure Quinn has a reason why. Whether it’s a good reason or a bad one, is up you but if she has been trying to reach out to you, then she has to have a reason. I'm sure of it.”

They both looked down at her phone when they heard the message tone going off.

**[23:13] Quinn:** _Rachel please, let me explain everything._

She sighed tiredly. “I just don't know what to say to her. I don't want to end up saying something that I'll regret and permanently hurt our chances of being friends again. I don't think I can even  _ see _ her right now.” She threw herself back on the bed before curling up into a fetal position.

“Everything just feels too raw, papa” she whispered, as she stared desperately into her papa’s blue eyes.  

Steve observed her, taking in the sadness in watery brown eyes. He grabbed hold of her hand, hoping to pass on whatever love and comfort he could through his touch. Then he places Rachel's phone in her palm. “Whatever you think is best, sweetheart. I'm sure everything will work out in the end. But, think about at least letting the girl know that all is not lost, that you don't hate her, okay?”

When he saw her quietly nod to agree, he stood up, planted a fatherly kiss on her forehead before walking out of her bedroom.

“I don't hate her,” she said softly. Her phone began to ring again. She saw Quinn's pretty, smiling face appear before her and she felt that all familiar fierce thump of her heart-beat. “I couldn't, even if I tried.”

\---

“Hi Rachel. This is like, I don't know, the  _ millionth _ voicemail and I don't know if you've even heard the others before this one. But I'm going to keep leaving them anyway, until you  _ finally _ pick up and we can sort this out properly.” Quinn sighed. “I'm really sorry Rachel. I just... I  _ need _ to talk to you, okay? I miss talking to you and I- I miss seeing you. And I need to explain my behaviour to you because you deserve to know and I  _ need _ you to know that I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just being stupid. I wasn't thinking. Please, just talk to me so that we can somehow move on from this. We  _ have _ to move on from this. Please pick up or call me or text me.”

“Please,” she repeated in a whisper. She clicked to end the call.

She knew that she probably sounded desperate but that was just what she felt. Desperate for Rachel to forgive her. This past weekend had been filled with nothing but berating herself for what she had said to the brunette. Every time she closed her eyes, Rachel's sad face flashed in her mind and the guilt in her heart was so heavy and so constricting that for a second, she felt like she really couldn’t breathe. She wondered what happened to make her care so much about hurting Rachel when before she said even worse things in a blink of an eye and didn't care how it affected Rachel back then.

“Hey babe. You feeling better?”

She lifted her gaze from her phone to see Finn's tall frame standing in the doorway. Quinn had spent the weekend holed up in her room, calling and texting Rachel, only leaving the room when she was hungry. She just didn't have the energy to pretend to be okay when she wasn't. It was so much easier before she and Rachel were friends. Pretending to be okay was easier then. But she was just so consumed with agitated guilt that she could barely function. Finn had noticed this and had tried to ask her what was wrong but she only said that she was tired. Earlier today, he took one look at her, nodded and said that he would be at Puck's. As if he  _ knew _ that she needed the alone time, away from him.

Quinn shook her head. “No.”

He walked into the room, moving to sit beside her. She felt the bed dip beneath his bulking weight and she looked up into his caring brown eyes, desperately wishing that she was staring into the shade of brown that she  _ wanted _ to see instead. “You want to talk about what happened?” Quinn looked down at her phone, her thumb itching to press the redial button. “I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard you leaving that voicemail for Rachel.”

The blonde dropped her phone down on the mattress and she sighed. “She doesn't want to talk to me.”

Finn placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling towards him in a warm hug. “How come?” he asked as he moved his hand up and down her arm in a comforting gesture.

“On Friday, after Glee, I- I called her Man-hands,” she quietly confessed, flinching at the memory of the scene flashing in her mind again.

She felt the hand on her arm stop its movement. She looked up to see Finn with his eyebrows furrowed together, which she knew was the look he got when something clicked. “Oh. That's why she seemed so upset when I saw her at the parking lot.”

The image of the hurt in the brunette's brown eyes  _ seared _ through Quinn's mind that she could feel her unborn child kicking her in distress. “Yeah.”

“So you've been trying to call to say you're sorry?”

“Yeah, if only she would pick up her damn phone.” She picked her phone, wanting nothing more than to throw it against the wall in frustration. She would lose hope but she knew that Rachel could have easily switched off her phone or left it somewhere unattended. She knows that every time that her call was rejected, Rachel was still waiting for her, waiting to hear from her. So her only thread of hope hung on the very solid cliff of thought that Rachel wanted to hear from her, even if she didn’t want to talk to her.

But sometimes it got so tiring to hope.

“She'll forgive you,” Finn assured her as he nodded knowingly.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. Rachel's great that way. I mean, she always forgave  _ me _ whenever I screwed up and I screwed up a lot,” he replied.

Finn might be slow but he wasn’t that dumb. He knew that despite his good intentions, all he ever seemed to do with Rachel, was break her heart. He could easily recall the way Rachel used to look at him with such open devotion and want, and it scared him with how intense she was. But he liked it because he could feel Quinn pulling away from him. Even now, he knew that there was a growing distance between him and the mother of his child. They had been fighting so much recently that it was putting so much pressure on them both. And sometimes it seemed like Rachel was the only one who just  _ got _ him on a level that nobody else seemed to understand. Sometimes he thought that maybe if Quinn wasn't having his baby, they would have broken up by now, and he would be with Rachel.

But Quinn  _ was _ having his baby, and even though he was not as in love with Quinn as he used to be, he did still love her. And he was going to stand by her, no matter what. So he mourned the loss for a love that could never be and he was just glad that Rachel's heart was big enough to forgive him for all the hurt he had caused her. Glad that even with everything that happened between them, he could still consider her as his friend.

So okay, it weirded him out when Quinn told him that she and Rachel had become friends because hello, it was his  _ girlfriend _ and the girl he really,  _ really _ liked. At first. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense that the two main girls in his life (after his mom, of course) were friends. He noticed that since the pregnancy, Quinn's hard-earned edge had somewhat softened, opening herself up to the other Glee kids. But she still seemed so sad and was always  _ on _ him about the doctor's bills. And he had seen the way she just  _ glowed _ since she and Rachel started their friendship. He had never seen his girlfriend smile as much as she did when Rachel was around, as if Rachel's mere presence just made her feel like everything was okay. And it made him immeasurably happy to see her like that, and he would do anything to make sure she stayed that way.

He looked back down at her, wanting nothing more than to see her laugh, so he gave her this cheeky smile. “Or you can always sing her a song. She'd definitely like  _ that _ .”

When she laughed and playfully shoved him away, his smile widened, glad that he managed to get that sad look off her face, even if it lasted for only a few seconds. “Thanks Finn.” She leaned up to give him a peck on his cheek and he pressed a kiss on the side of her head in return. “No problem, babe. I'm going to get some sleep. Sweet dreams.”

Quinn watched as the door closed after Finn, praying for the millionth time that he wouldn’g hate her when she told him about the baby. Her heart leapt when she heard her phone's message alert tone. She didn’t want to hope, but she knew that she was hoping that it was a message from Rachel. Her hope deflated when she thought that maybe it was Rachel finally telling her to stop and to leave her alone. Her thumb moved in trepidation, clicking to open the message.

**[23:34] Rachel:** _Go to sleep, Quinn. It's very late and it's important that you rest for the baby. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams._

\---

It was finally the next morning and Quinn was sitting in her car, so tightly gripping the steering wheel that her knuckles had turned white, waiting for Rachel to appear. She was nervous, anxious and very afraid of what was going to happen when she finally saw Rachel. It warmed her heart when Rachel sent her that text last night, somewhat glad that the brunette still cared enough to look out for her and her baby, but she wished that Rachel could have shown some indication about what she felt towards this whole situation between them. The unknown terrified her, making her heart race.

She felt her baby kicking before she saw Rachel getting out of her dad's car, and she watched her walking towards the school steps, too stunned to even make a move towards the girl. She quicky got out of her car, walking towards the brunette. “Rachel,” she called out, making the brunette turn to face her. She saw a ghost of a smile appear on Rachel's face. Quinn felt relieved and knew that her own lips were twitching upwards into a smile when suddenly Rachel's eyebrows knitted together and her smile disappeared into a sad frown.

Quinn was quickly realizing that her window of opportunity was closing rapidly, so she quickened her pace, panicking when she saw Rachel turn right back around towards the school entrance.

“Rachel!” she yelled. “Rachel, please stop,” she pleaded, not caring that the other students could see her chasing after the smaller brunette who was undeterred by the pleading and kept walking.

“Now is not the time, Quinn,” she muttered when Quinn finally reached her side. Rachel opened her locker, pointedly  throwing her backpack inside.

Quinn was still trying to catch her breath and she wasn’t sure what she just heard came out of Rachel's mouth. “What?” she choked out.

“It's not the time,” Rachel insisted, pulling out a couple of books from her bag.

Rachel's placid tone annoyed Quinn greatly that she snapped and replied without thinking, “When then?  _ When _ is the time for me to talk to you? You didn't pick up the phone when I tried to call you  _ all _ weekend. All I got was  _ one _ text telling me to go to  _ sleep _ ? So tell me Rachel, when will it be the  _ right _ time for me to apologize for what a jerk I was last Friday?”

Rachel sighed deeply and calmly closed her locker door, hugging her books to her chest. When she finally looked up at Quinn, both girls were shaken by the looks in their eyes. A blaze of fading anger and remorse in hazel eyes met a storm of hurt and sadness in brown eyes and Quinn realized belatedly that she really didn't do herself any favors when she lashed out at the brunette just then and opened her mouth to apologize when Rachel interrupted her.

“Are you going to add an apology for being a jerk right now?” Quinn flinched away in shame at the underlying anger in Rachel's question. “You can say what you want to say, but I'm not going to listen. But before you do, I just want to say that seeing you at this very moment? It just brings back all these really bad feelings from Friday. Feelings that I  _ thought _ I had gotten out of my system over the weekend, but it turns out that I haven't. And I really,  _ really _ , am trying to restrain myself from saying something that would hurt you.” She shook her head, taking a deep breath. “I'm sorry, I'm just not ready to listen.”

“No,  _ I'm _ sorry.” The blonde reached out for Rachel who was facing away from her, but pulled back before she could. “I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-” she stammered. She took her own deep breath, trying to pull herself together. “Look, I owe you an explanation. But only when  _ you _ are ready to listen, okay? I'll- I'll wait. I promise.”

Rachel nodded in gratitude, while watching the other students walking by.“Thank you.” She looked up, fixating her gaze on Quinn's forehead, wanting to avoid hazel eyes that were so desperate to meet her own. “I have to get to class.”

Quinn watched the brunette walk away from her, leaving her with a sinking feeling in her stomach that she really didn’t care much for at all. She watched helplessly as Brittany sidled next to Rachel, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and received a warm smile from the brunette. She made a step to go to her own class when she heard a voice behind her, a voice that she  _ really _ didn’t want to hear right now. “Well,  _ that _ was awkward.”

The blonde closed her eyes, sighed tiredly and gritted her teeth in annoyance. “ _ Don't _ you have anything better to do than to stalk me, Santana?”

She turned to see Santana leaning against the locker next to Rachel's and she wondered just when Santana learned to be so stealthy. Santana had an irritating smirk on her face, and casually shrugged. “Of course I do. I just thought that I'd make sure that you didn't try to talk to Berry. And yet there you were, just... Yapping away.”

Quinn huffed. “And just what is my  _ crime _ for wanting to talk to Rachel? What is it?” she asked angrily. “What do you want from me, Santana? Why can't you just let me have this?”

Santana pushed herself off the locker, her face set into her patented scowl that had been known to make Jacob Ben-Israel pee in his pants. “ _ Let _ you? Do you even  _ hear _ yourself? ' _ Let _ you'. You  _ really _ think the world revolves around you, don't you?”

“What? No, I don't-”

The blonde stood back when Santana threw her hands up, muttering what sounded like Spanish curse words. The Cheerio glared at Quinn. “ _ Don't _ you get it? You gave up! You just gave up so that gives me the right to be hard on your bloated pregnant ass.”

The former Head Cheerio pushed aside the insult and straightened herself up, standing toe-to-toe against the current Head Cheerio. “You  _ threatened _ me! You  _ told _ me to stay away from her.”

Santana rolled her eyes. “And you  _ listened _ . To me! God, has Quinn Fabray always been this  _ weak _ ?”

Quinn's eyes blazed in anger. “ _ Excuse _ me, I am  _ not _ we-” she started to say but snapped her mouth shut when Santana raised her hand.

The pregnant girl bristled, bracing herself for another verbal lashing from the brunette, but instead Santana just gave her this look that seemed almost like she was  _ pitying _ her. It confused her because she didn’t know just why Santana was suddenly feeling  _ sorry _ for her. The brunette then sighed and shook her head. “For the record? I didn't tell you to make her cry.  _ Jesus _ , Q.”

At those words, any fight left in her, was completely drained out of her body. “But I-”

“Save it for somebody who cares, Fabray. Just...  _ Stay _ away from her.” Santana started to move, when she stopped, looking straight into Quinn's hazel eyes. The blonde gulped at the heated fire in dark brown eyes, and her stomach quivered in fear. ”Or I won't be so kind next time.”

\---

It was lunch-time and Rachel knew that if she had gone to the music room where she usually spent her lunch, Quinn might be there and Rachel knew she would cave once she saw Quinn's imploring eyes. Because she was definitely not ready to forgive yet, and she knew that it was wrong of her to push Quinn away but she really could not help how she felt. 

When she saw Quinn earlier, she felt her stomach drop to her feet because she could clearly see how affected Quinn was by their situation. But then Quinn's voice came thrashing in her mind, and all she could hear were the words “Man-hands” viciously spinning around in her head. She felt an irrational anger wanting to come out, which was why she turned to walk away. She didn't want to say things that she knew would hurt Quinn. She didn't want to continue this cycle of hurt even though her baser instincts cried out for revenge.

Though she guessed, that maybe making Quinn wait to explain, was kind of a revenge too. She didn't mean to do it but she felt like it was the only way to avoid more hurt. Brittany had agreed, saying that she did the right thing. The blonde Cheerio invited her to join her and Santana for lunch in the cafereria, and Rachel couldn't be more grateful to have them as friends. Well, Brittany anyway. Santana was mostly ignoring her presence as per usual.

“Do you think I overreacted?” she asked Brittany.

“I think you got hurt and you're angry, and you were just reacting to both things,” the taller blonde replied politely, which would be great at any other time, but right now, Rachel just wanted some brash honesty.

“But did I  _ overreact _ ? Because she might have just been like that due to pregnancy hormones,” she pointed out.

Brittany regarded her friend with a thoughtful look. “Do  _ you _ think that was the reason?”

Rachel sighed, and shook her head. “The fact that she has been saying that she wants to explain pretty much tells me that it  _ wasn't _ because of the hormones. Which, is worse really.” She leaned her head against Brittany's shoulder. “What do I do, Britt? She really hurt me, but I just  _ know _ she is being sincere about wanting to apologize. I'm just really scared that she's going to do it again and I don't want to feel like that again around her. Like I don't know where I stand with her.”

Brittany pulled the smaller girl into a comforting hug. “Just listen to what she has to say, Rach, that's all you can do. You can decide what you want to do after that.”

Santana's hand came into their view, waving frantically. She had been sitting next to Brittany, wanting to keep herself out of this  _ ridiculous _ conversation. “Um, am I the  _ only _ one that is totally against this?”

Rachel and Brittany replied in unison, “Yes.”

“Brittany, come on! You  _ know _ this isn't a good idea,” she tried to reason with her girlfriend.

“Baby, this is  _ none _ of our business. We have to let them sort it out themselves.” The taller blonde placed a warm hand on Santana's thigh, hoping to calm her down. Santana sighed, saf back against the chair as she crossed her arms.

“Don't say I didn't warn you then,” she muttered, clearly unhappy with the situation.

“You didn't,” Rachel argued.

Santana rolled her eyes in response. “Fine.” She leaned forward to make eye-contact with Rachel. “It's not a good idea, Berry.” she deadpanned. “There. Consider yourself  _ sufficiently _ warned.” She began to stand up. “I'm out of here.” Santana pressed a quick kiss to Brittany's forehead. “Later babe. Berry.”

Both girls watched the brunette Cheerio walk away before Rachel leaned her head back down on Brittany's shoulder. “Does she really hate me that much?” she asked in a small voice.

“Santana doesn't hate you, Rachel,” the blonde insisted.

“How am I supposed to believe that when she is so against Quinn and I being friends?” Rachel asked, exasperated with Santana's belligerent attitude.

“She's not really against you two being friends. She's just worried.”

“ _ That's _ her worried?” Rachel asked incredulously.

“She's different like that,” Brittany vaguely explained. An affectionate smile crossed her face, and Rachel could  clearly see her blue eyes lighting up at the thought of her girlfriend. “But, are you and Quinn  _ really _ friends though?”

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, wondering just what exactly Brittany was trying to imply with her question. “Well, yes, I'd like to think that we are. I mean, at the moment we are, I suppose what you call, on a break, but we  _ are _ friends.” She lifted her head off Brittany's shoulder to look at the blonde, squaring her brown gaze into blue. “But something is telling me that there is more to that question than what you're asking.” When she saw Brittany began to squirm a little, Rachel knew that her assumption was right. “Why is that, Brittany?”

“Because Rach, I-  _ we _ , think you might have more than friendly feelings for her.”

Rachel felt her heart racing in panic mode. “What? No, I most certainly  _ do not _ ,” she denied hastily. “Why would you even think that?”

The blonde bit down on her lip as she shrugged. “Well, why are you  _ this _ upset about what she did?”

Rachel looked down at her hands in her lap, toying with her fingers. Maybe because it was the fact that she let her guard down with Quinn after years of animosity on the blonde's part. The blonde had so completely infiltrated herself into the brunette's world, allowing Rachel to feel some sort of security and god, some kind of  _ happiness _ for like, a nano-moment and she just snatched it all away, just like that. It was almost like a strategy out of Sue Sylvester's playbook.

And just as if she had been summoned, Quinn entered the cafeteria. The blonde Cheerio watched as Rachel looked towards the entrance, as if she knew that Quinn had entered the room. It was clear as day to Brittany, just whom the former Head Cheerio was looking for, and it was  _ definitely _ not her jock boyfriend. Quinn finally found the person she was looking for, and Brittany spies a hint of a spark appearing in Rachel's brown eyes and she could feel the tension rise at the unspoken words exchanging between the two girls. She watched as Quinn stood still for a moment, poised and wanting to make her way towards them, but at the slow shake of Rachel's head, she stopped and ambled over to sit with Finn across from them, keeping Rachel in her eyesight. Brittany watched as the wheels turn in Rachel's mind and she pouted at the accepting, sad smile slowly adorning the brunette's face.

“I am this upset because... Because I care more than I know I should,” she softly admitted in a way that let Brittany know that Rachel was confirming that yes, she had more than friendly feelings for Quinn. But it didn’t help. It didn't make Rachel feel better because she still felt hurt. Rachel sat back against her chair, wrapping her arms around her waist, wanting nothing more than to hide inside herself She looked at Brittany with dim, forlorn eyes. “Is it me, Brittany? Am I defective? Am I just  _ attracted _ to people who would put me down and I just keep wanting to go back for more? Why do I care so much for a girl who had done nothing but torture me whenever we crossed paths?”

Brittany turned to look at her friend who now had her head cradled in her hands on the lunch table, looking defeated. Her heart ached for Rachel because she knew that the brunette was confused, in pain and scared. She and Rachel had become such close friends recently and she was so used to seeing Rachel acting strong and just shrugging off the awful way that people treated her. Seeing her now, so vulnerable and looking so completely lost, it felt  _ wrong _ . She quickly moved to pick up Rachel in her arms, and she didn’f fail to notice the jealousy burning in hazel eyes across the room.

“You're not defective, Rach. You’re not. I promise you’re not. You can't help how you feel and that’s okay,” she whispered comfortingly into the brunette's ear. She pulled back from the hug, brushing back the strands of brunette hair covering Rachel's face, keeping an arm around her shoulders. “You can't be defective anyway.  _ I _ don't put you down.”

“Well, you have always been more of an exception to most rules, Brittany,” Rachel replied, her lips twitching up into a somewhat affectionate smile.

The blonde Cheerio grinned proudly. “I  _ am _ pretty awesome.” She saw Rachel quickly glancing over at Quinn, and she sighed, drawing Rachel's attention back to her. “Look, I'm going to tell you this because you're my friend. I know we haven't been friends for very long but I've come to really love you. And I really, really hate seeing you so sad,” she paused, taking a deep breath, “Santana  _ might _ have said some things to Quinn that made her kind of upset and also she might have basically threatened her to stay away from you.”

Rachel's eyebrows knitted together, confusion clearly etched all over her face. She frowned. “I'd hate to find out what she does to people she actually does hate then. What did she say?”

Brittany shrugged. “I don't really know. Santana keeps me out of her plans because she knows I don't approve of her methods. But don't worry, okay? Santana does things differently than you and I would, but I trust her. Everything will work out between you and Quinn. Trust me.”

“I trust you. I just don't know what to do. I mean, I know Santana told her to stay away, but Santana didn't exactly tell her to be mean to me either.”

“Yeah, that was her bad.”

Rachel didn’t know why, but Brittany's dry reply actually kind of made her chuckle.

\---

Rachel was walking towards the music room, hoping to get in some time to practise before everybody else, when she heard Finn's singing voice coming from the room. She watched as Finn belted out the lyrics to  _ Can't Fight This Feeling _ , a song that he had admitted to be one of his go-to shower songs. 

She marveled at the significant improvement in Finn's voice since he joined Glee as it was getting stronger and more confident, and it filled her heart with hope that his growing ability will help them win Sectionals. She knew that while she appointed herself as captain of the club, Finn was the one that everybody else looked up to, the unofficial leader. She knocked on the door, alerting him of her presence. He gave her his usual dopey grin in greeting.

“Hey Rach.”

“Hi Finn.” She walked in the room to take a seat. She smoothed over her skirt as she sat down across from him. “Practising for Glee?”

He shrugged. “Sort of. It helps me think, y'know?”

Rachel nodded in mutual agreement. “Yes, I do know. What's on your mind?”

Finn noisily plopped down on the chair next to her. “Oh, you know, the usual. Quinn and the baby.”

The brunette bit down on her lip as she nodded. “Right.”

A moment of quiet passed between them before Rachel noticed Finn fidgeting in his chair and she knew that there was something he wanted to get off his chest. “She's really upset about whatever happened between you guys on Friday, you know m. She feels really bad about it,” he confided softly, hoping that Rachel wouldn't react badly and think that he was trying to meddle.

“Do you think so?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, she cried a lot. I mean, Quinn cries a lot as it is, but she seemed even more, I don't know, more sad than I've ever seen her. And usually when she gets upset, she gets angry and like, yells at me about stuff. But she was just quiet and y'know, just really sad,” he said, his eyebrows folded together into a worried frown.

Rachel's eyes fell to her lap, “Oh,” she replied quietly, finally grasping just how much Quinn was affected by this whole thing.

Finn placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I hope you guys can work it out.”

She looked back up at him. “Really?” she asked.

Finn gave her a firm nod in reply. “Yeah, totally. I've  _ never _ seen Quinn as happy as when you guys started being friends. I guess since Brittany and Santana hooked up, Quinn was feeling a little left out or something, y'know?”

“Yes, I know. Thanks Finn,” she smiled gratefully.

“Anything to get my two favourite girls together.”

At Finn's words, Rachel wondered if Noah ever felt this; this overwhelming guilt for harbouring more than platonic feelings for his friend's girlfriend. She wondered how Noah went through every day, with this aching, thunderous storm that raged inside his heart for wanting someone he couldn’t ever have. She could barely look Finn in the eye without thinking about Quinn, and she forced herself to swallow a huge lump of guilt because even though she hadn’t done anything, she felt it was still a betrayal of some sorts. A betrayal of thoughts, to Finn, a boy she considered to be one of the closest friends she had ever had. And she was pretty sure, that falling for your friend's girl was not at all kosher.

“Hi.”

Both Finn's and Rachel's heads whipped up to see Quinn standing at the doorway. Even though Quinn didn't say who her greeting was for, they knew from the intense gaze in her hazel eyes, that it was meant for Rachel. And the brunette's face blushed bright red, needlessly panicking over the fact that she had just been thinking about Quinn, and there she was, just standing in front of them, looking so wonderfully demure in her dress.

“Hi,” Rachel breathlessly replied.

Finn glanced between the two girls, noticing the strain they were under, both too scared to make the first move and he knew that it had to be him. So he stood up, walking to meet Quinn. “I'll let you two talk.” He pressed a kiss on Quinn's forehead. “Bye babe. Later Rach.”

“Bye Finn,” the girls replied in unison.

As soon as Finn was out of sight, Quinn felt the awkward tension between her and the brunette rising the very second Finn left the room and she shuffled indecisively, not knowing whether it was okay to approach the singer or not. She got her answer when Rachel patted the chair next to her and the blonde gladly complied with the silent request. She reflexively touched her baby bump when she felt her baby kicking.

“Is the baby okay?” Rachel asked worriedly, noticing Quinn's action.

The blonde nodded. “The baby's fine. She just kicked really hard.”

“Are  _ you _ okay?”

Quinn smiled reassuringly. “Yeah. I'm just, glad she's kicking. She wasn't kicking this hard over the weekend. I think she misses you,” she admitted in a whisper.

Brown eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. I'm- I'm glad to hear it. I've... Missed her too,” Rachel stuttered, a blush painting her rosy cheeks..

Rachel watched as Quinn unconsciously rubbed her stomach and she was struck again by the very same desire to protect the blonde and her baby. There were still things they needed to say, and she felt the dull sting in her heart, honestly unwilling to bring it all back up again. But she knew that it needed to be done so they could clear the air between them and move forward.

She let out a fortifying sigh. “You really hurt me.”

Quinn blanched at the quietly honest and heartbreaking words. “I know. Rachel, I'm-” her mouth audibly shut when she realized that Rachel meant to continue.

“You know, Quinn, for the years that I have been in this school, you have called me countless hurtful,  _ awful _ names. You have stood by and watched, and even  _ laughed _ , while I got slushied time and time again,” Rachel paused to take a breath and collect her words, “I remember the first few months of freshman year, I spent  _ nights _ crying myself to sleep because I couldn't understand why these horrible things were happening to me. I wanted to know why people were so mean to me. What did I do to make them so mean to me?”

She looked to Quinn, her tearful eyes begging for an answer, and the blonde just shook her head, whispering, “You didn't do anything.”

“Then  _ why _ , Quinn? Why? I thought we were getting along really well last week.”

Quinn nodded hastily. “We  _ were _ . I shouldn't have said what I said to you, and I know it's stupid to blame it on habit but that is really all it was. I was angry and I just wanted you to get out of my way and I- I knew that was the best way to do it.”

“What happened? I know that Santana told you to stay away. Brittany told me earlier.”

“She did?”

“Yes, but what I want to know is, why you couldn't have just  _ talked _ to me? We could have worked something out.”

Quinn took a deep breath. “I know that,  _ now _ . Santana just... She said some things that left me feeling out of balance and it upset me. And I- I misdirected my anger at you. I didn't  _ want _ to lash out at you but you were  _ right there _ and it was just too easy. I wish that I can take them back but I can't. I didn't want to make you hate me, but I know that's what I went and did.”

“I don't hate you,” Rachel told her.

“How can you  _ not _ ? You just said it yourself. In all the time we've known each other, I've done nothing but hurt you. I don't deserve to have a friend like you, Rachel.”

“Why would you think that?” Rachel asked, confused.

Quinn stood up in a flash.!“Look at me!” she snapped at Rachel, pacing back and forth in front of the shocked brunette. “I'm the President of the  _ Celibacy  _ Club, who is  _ pregnant _ with my boyfriend's best friend's baby. I then  _ lied _ to my loving,  _ trusting _ , boyfriend, saying that it  _ is _ his baby. Not to mention that the baby's father was actually going out with my best friend at the time. I have spent the majority of my high school years  _ torturing _ people with slushies and insults with the  _ specific _ intent on breaking them down, especially one girl, who really didn't deserve any of those things. None of them did,” she ended in a whisper, stopping her frantic pace. She looked back at Rachel. “How were you even able to look at me when we actually weren't friends?”

“Funnily enough, it was actually easier to forgive you  _ because _ we weren't friends,” Rachel replied dryly.

Quinn went to sit back down next to Rachel, tired and exhausted from her pacing. She sighed. “I think we both knew it wasn't going to be easy, being friends, especially with our history. I don't know if just saying “I'm sorry” could ever be enough.”

“ _ Are _ you sorry?”

“ _ Of course _ , I am. Rachel, if I could take back one thing about my life, it would be this. I would take back all the hurtful words I ever said if I could. But I can't. Would me saying “I'm sorry” be enough for you?”

“No, probably not.” Quinn deflated visibly at the brunette's answer, casting her gaze down to her lap, wanting to hide the tears that she knew were coming. “But, I think we'll make it through somehow.”

Quinn looked up to see the brunette smiling reassuringly at her and she smiled cautiously back in return. She felt happy and relieved beyond anything that Rachel was giving her another chance.

“Can- Will you sing something for m- the baby?” Quinn softly requested. “I think she'd really love it.”

Rachel looked into the blonde's eyes and she nodded.

_ You're not alone, together we stand _ __   
_ I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand _ __   
_ When it gets cold, and it feels like the end _ _   
_ __ There's no place, you know I won't give in

It was a much more intimate setting, here in the music room, listening to this song for a second time and letting Rachel's soulful voice blanket her broken soul. The brunette's beautiful brown eyes were looking into hers and she prayed that Rachel couldn’t hear the violent thumps of her heart beating. She smiled when she felt her baby kicking, and she took hold of Rachel's hand between her own to press against her stomach, allowing them both to feel the movements. They shared a smile as Rachel kept singing.

_ So keep holding on 'cause you know we'll make it through _ _   
_ _ We'll make it through… _

\---

“So you decided to forgive her.”

Rachel jumped, startled by Santana's sudden presence next to hers, walking with her through the hallway at the end of the school day. As she waited for her heart to calm down, she replied, “Not completely but I’m sure we’ll get there eventually. Despite your best efforts to tear our friendship apart.” The taller brunette scowled but then slowly nodded in resignation and Rachel was surprised that Santana wasn’t loudly protesting her decision and claiming what a foolish move it was to do so, but she could still clearly see just what Santana felt about the whole thing. She sighed. “Look, Santana, I know you hate me. And I-”

“I don't hate you.”

“Excuse me?”

Santana rolled her eyes. “I  _ don't _ hate you, okay?” she insisted heatedly.

Rachel slowly blinked. “Oh, okay.”

The taller brunette let out a deep sigh. “I guess there's no point in me trying to convince you to forget about all this.”

Rachel shook her head. “No, there isn't.”

Then Santana stopped abruptly, making Rachel stop in her stride. She saw Santana's frown deepen and she looked in the direction of the brunette Cheerio's gaze and saw Quinn leaning against Rachel's locker, unaware of Santana's scrutiny. Rachel watched the brunette's frown transform into a narrow-eyed glare. She wished that she was blessed with powers of telepathy rather than psychic ones, so she would know just what exactly was running through Santana's brain. She was still not too sure why Santana seems to be so antagonistic towards the idea of her and Quinn being friends. But she really hoped that Brittany was right.

The Cheerio looked back at Rachel. “Be careful, okay Berry?”

Rachel was surprised to say the least, by the soft-spoken warning that Santana had given her and she saw something that she thought looked almost like concern in the Santana’s dark brown eyes. “Be careful about what?”

“Just,  _ be _ careful,” Santana warned again, this time with an almost pleading tone. She looked briefly in Quinn's direction once again before fixing a mild glare on Rachel. “I have to go.”

Rachel watched the cheerleader walk away from her, and she shook her head in confusion. “I'm  _ never _ going to understand that girl.”

Thoughts of Santana left her mind as soon as her eyes returned to the blonde who was still completely unaware that she was being watched. Rachel cleared her throat loudly and hazel eyes met her brown ones. Rachel began to walk towards Quinn and her heart leaped in her throat watching a charming, unsure smile gradually appearing on the blonde's face. Rachel smiled back in return and she felt her stomach do a somersault when Quinn visibly lit up and her unsure smile grew into a happy, wide grin.

Quinn thought that maybe her baby was some sort of Rachel-radar because she swore she could feel her baby kicking, before she heard Rachel clear her throat. The blonde had been waiting for Rachel at her locker since the very second she got out of class. She was beyond glad that they were working things out, and fhat she didn’t hate her. But she knew that she had some more ways to go before Rachel could really feel confident enough that Quinn wouldn’t turn her back on the brunette again.

The blonde moved to allow the brunette space to take out whatever books she needed from her locker. She nervously tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Hey.”

Rachel paused her rummaging, smiling warmly as she turned to look at Quinn. “Hi.” She returned her attention to search for the book that she needed to do her assignment.

Quinn pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting lightly on it. “So... Can I give you a ride home?” the blonde shyly offered, blushing slightly.

The brunette grinned, finding Quinn's bashfulness totally adorable. It was so different to how Quinn usually was, so snarky and confident. And while Rachel liked that side of Quinn, she kind of liked this new side too. She nodded happily. “Sure. Um, do you want to stay for dinner tonight?”

“I'd love to.”

“Great,” Rachel replied as she closed her locker door, shouldering her backpack.

Overcome with happiness that she had her friend back, Quinn reached out for Rachel's hand, pulling her towards the exit. She felt herself being pulled back and she realized that Rachel wasn’t following her but looking intently at their joined hands instead.

It came to Rachel's attention that while they had held hands before, it had only ever been when they were pressed against Quinn's baby bump. She couldn't help but be struck dumb by the unexpected sight of their connected hands. It  _ felt _ different to hold Quinn's hand on its own, without feeling the familiar swell of the baby bump. She wasn’t sure how to express what it was like to suddenly have their palms press so nakedly against each other, their fingers so effortlessly intertwined; to see tanned and pale skin meet so intimately. 

Everything inside her felt warm and she was starting to feel kind of dizzy from the blood rushing throughout her body. She just couldn’t help but keep staring at their hands, and she wondered whether she was being a little overdramatic for thinking how this had to be one of those monumentally significant moments in a relationship that passed people by too quickly. Their joined hands reminds her of that Romeo and Juliet scene where the two lovers had their first kiss, and Rachel felt a heated blush rising at the very thought of her and Quinn exchanging those romantic words.

Taking in Rachel's pink cheeks, Quinn rushed to pull her hand away and muttered apologetically, “Sorry.” Her own cheeks were flushing red too.

She struggled to breathe when Rachel finally looked up at her, and dark brown eyes meet her own. She turned to move towards the exit, scolding herself for her impulsive action, when she suddenly felt a warmth enveloping her hand and she stopped. She looked down to see Rachel's fingers easily looping through her own, and she let out a staggering breath at the sight of Rachel's assuring smile. Her returning grin was shaky and relieved, and she happily resumed walking towards the exit, this time with Rachel's hand gently gripping her own.

Their hands leisurely swung in between them, only letting go when they finally reached Quinn's car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr/twitter (same username)
> 
> Have a good weekend, folks!


	6. Chapter Six

Rachel was making her way to her next class, talking animatedly with Artie beside her. The boy had approached her when she first arrived at her locker this morning, shyly asking if they could do another collaboration together. She was really glad that he made the first move this time because it meant that he was willing to work with her and that he kept to his word about trying to be friends. It made Rachel laugh to think that just a few months ago, people like Quinn, Brittany and Artie didn't like her and were constantly annoyed by her presence. And now they were actually coming up to her, saying hello and actually wanted to  _ talk _ to her rather than insulted her, or in Artie's case, wheeled over her delicate toes.

"Do you have any ideas for a song?" Artie asked the singer.

"I  _ may _ have compiled a list or two that could work," she replied, smiling sheepishly when she sees Artie's eyebrows shoot up close to his hairline.

"And when you say that you ' _ may _ ' have, you mean, that you ' _ definitely _ ' have, right?" he asked, smirking when she only nodded enthusiastically. He chuckled. "Rachel, I only asked you this morning. Like, less than  _ two _ hours ago."

"And?" she asked, failing to see what Artie found so funny.

"It's just... That was kind of,  _ fast _ ? Were you thinking about this during your classes?"

Rachel nodded again. "I was, but don't worry. I am a very sufficient multi-tasker. I have mastered the ability to be an attentive student while mentally sifting through a myriad of song titles. How do you think I manage to have song suggestions for Glee all the time?"

"But I  _ am _ open to your ideas too, Artie," she added when Artie hadn’t said a word.

"Really?"

"Of course. After all, you were the one who came to me, so I should assume you would have a song or two in mind."

Artie nodded. "I do."

Rachel clapped her hands excitedly. "Excellent! I hope at least one of those ideas is a duet, or we could arrange them to be, as I would very much like to sing with you this time, Artie."

"You do?"

"Why yes, why wouldn't I?" she asked, honestly confused as to why Artie seems so shocked by what she said. Rachel glanced over at Artie to find his lips set in a tight line, trying to find avoid her eyes and she knew that he was trying to keep himself from saying something that would upset her. 

"Oh," she uttered softly when it hit her, making her halt her stride. She waited until Artie turned his chair around and was facing her. "Artie, just because I have a strong desire to be in the spotlight and that I am always demanding the solos doesn't mean I don't know when to bow out gracefully to let others have their time to shine too."

"I know," he replied apologetically. "But you can't exactly blame me for thinking that, can you?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't blame you. I know I'm a little insufferable at times. I can't change who I am, but I  _ am _ trying."

He nodded, letting her know that he had noticed that. "It was really awesome what you did, giving Mercedes the ballad for Sectionals. I think she really appreciated that."

"She sounded amazing. How could I not give it to her? The crowd will undoubtedly love her." Rachel smiled, remembering the complete awe she felt while watching and listening to Mercedes singing her song.

They moved through the hallway in companionable silence when a smile began to grow on Rachel's face at seeing Quinn for the first time that day, feeling that familiar lightness in her heart whenever she caught sight of the pregnant blonde. She wondered why Quinn was waiting for her as the blonde was leaning against her locker. 

It had been a couple of days since she and Quinn patched things up. They talked it over after dinner, acknowledging that Rachel would probably always be afraid that Quinn was going to push her away again, even if Quinn promised that she wouldn't ever do it again. Rachel knew it wasn’t really a matter of trust because she knew in her heart that she  _ could _ trust Quinn. It was just that she can't help but be afraid anyway. 

It was the result of two years filled with nothing but unrelenting torment from the now-repentant blonde, and it wasn’t something that they could easily move on from just because they decided to be friends; not something that could be easily swept under the rug and most definitely, not something that could be easily fixed. But it had to be said that Rachel loved a challenge, and what better challenge than to be friends with Quinn? And not just that, but also to battle certain growing feelings that were decidedly  _ more _ -than friendly, feelings that she was sure could never, ever be reciprocated.

A challenge indeed.

As they got within ear-shot of the blonde, Rachel was about to say hello when her heart dropped, noticing the haggard look on Quinn's face. Her eyebrows knitted together in worry and she stopped to face the wheelchair-bound boy. "Artie, is it alright if we continue this discussion later, maybe during lunch?"

"Yeah sure, Rach. Meet you in the music room?"

She nodded. “I'll be there."

"Bye Rachel."

After waving goodbye to Artie, Rachel walked towards the blonde, doing a quick once-over and took note of Quinn's paler-than-usual features, of her hands resting on her belly and of her hunched shoulders. Even from where she was looking, Rachel could already  _ feel _ the exhaustion emanating from the blonde and a bigger wave of concern crashed over her for her friend who looked like she was about ready to collapse onto the floor. She quickened her pace, rushing to Quinn's side.

"Quinn." Rachel peered worriedly at the blonde, her hazel eyes closed to the world. "What happened?"

The pregnant girl opened her eyes to see Rachel standing beside her, concern in her brown eyes and she groaned tiredly. "I couldn't stop puking out my dinner last night. And I couldn't get the little one here to calm down at all so I didn't get very much sleep.”

Rachel felt her heart twist in sympathy at the weariness in Quinn's voice. She chewed on her bottom lip, placing a palm on Quinn's forehead, her worry growing at feeling clammy skin. "How are you feeling now?"

Quinn grinned deliriously at her friend's concern, unconsciously leaning into Rachel's hand when it moved down to her cheek, enjoying the cool touch. "I'm okay. I'm just a little dead on my feet."

It was a new thing; this touching thing that they did. Ever since the other day, it was like a dam broke open and they had some kind of instinctive need to touch each other. Sometimes they’d be in the school hallway walking close enough so their hands would brush against each other. In the moments they had alone, one hand would reach out for the other, fingers automatically intertwined seamlessly like they had been doing it forever. Neither girl questioned this recent development for fear that it would all stop, not realizing how much the other girl seemed to enjoy it as much as she did.

Quinn felt her baby kicking harder against her hands and her heart raced faster, both direct results of Rachel's innocent contact and the soft look in her brown eyes. Her throat dried when Rachel's thumb began to gently stroke her cheek and she wished that there was something that she could say to break the silence between them but she didn’t want Rachel to take her hand away. Not yet. Quinn just wanted to feel Rachel and enjoy it while she could.

"Spanish, right?" Rachel asked when the warning bell rang, reluctantly dropping her hand away.

Quinn nodded, lowering her gaze to the floor to hide her disappointment. "Yeah."

"Here, lean on me. I'll walk you to your class," Rachel courteously offered as she moved to stand next to the blonde, placing an arm around her waist.

"What?" Quinn looked back up to see what Rachel was intending to do and she vehemently shook her head. "No way." She tried to push Rachel away but was surprised by the brunette's strength when she hardly moved. Either that or she really  _ was _ just that tired.

"Why not? It's not that far. I'm sure I'll be able to hold you up."

"You can barely hold  _ yourself _ up."

"What does that even  _ mean _ ?" Rachel asked, perplexed but somehow knowing that she should be annoyed.

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "Fact of the matter is, you won't be able to hold me up."

Rachel pulled away from the blonde, placing her hands on her hips. "I know I'm small in stature but-"

Quinn interrupted what she knew was likely going to be the standard Rachel Berry lecture, "It is what it is, Rach. You're  _ short _ . I mean, you need help reaching your kitchen cabinets for god’s sakes," the blonde teased, knowing very well that doing so would divert Rachel’s attention.

"Do you think I don't know what you're doing? I  _ know _ you're trying to distract me from being worried about you by making disparaging remarks about my lack of height. It's not going to work."

"I'm not trying to distract you," she denied quickly, even though they both knew that Rachel was right. "And why isn't it going to work?"

"Because," Rachel shrugged, "I'll worry about you anyway."

Quinn's breath caught in her throat when Rachel's hand reached out for hers, tenderly holding it in between her tanned hands. She lifted her gaze back up into Rachel's warm brown eyes. "Just lean on me, okay? I wouldn't offer if I didn't think I could handle it."

"Fine," she acquiesced. "I'm  _ only _ accepting because I know you're just going to keep hounding me until I do."

So Quinn allowed Rachel to bear some of her weight, and she felt any defenses she had left instantly fall away at the chaste press of their bodies together. Somehow Quinn just  _ knew _ that this was going to happen, that once she felt Rachel holding her closer and tighter, that once she breathed in Rachel's familiar scent that made her feel like she was  _ home _ , that all Quinn wanted to do was just to completely melt into the brunette's arms.

"You know me well." Quinn's eyes fluttered shut when she felt Rachel's steady breathing sweep over her suddenly,  _ incredibly  _ sensitive neck. She swallowed thickly, cursing her hormones as she tried not to think about how much she wanted to feel this amazing sensation all over her body (and the answer was,  _ so very _ much). Instead she attempted to focus on walking towards her class, mentally instructing her feet to  _ not _ trip over themselves.

Rachel mistook Quinn's silent struggle for exhaustion. "Are you going to be okay for Glee later? Because I think it would be best if I just bring you down to the Nurse's office so you can take a nap instead of going to your next class," the brunette suggested, knowing that Quinn wasn’t going to function very well without the proper amount of rest. "I'm sure the Nurse can write you a note or something."

Quinn blushed, shaking her head. "It's okay Rach, I'll be fine."

"But Quinn..."

" _ Rachel _ . I will be  _ fine, _ " the blonde stubbornly insisted. In the corner of her eye, she could see Rachel's lips pouting and she started to apologize, "Rach-"

The brunette stopped her, waving her off. "No no, you know what, it's  _ fine _ . I'm  _ sure _ you will be fine. It's not like I have a test later today, and I  _ certainly _ won't be thinking about how tired you are, and how you and your baby should be resting and I'm  _ sure _ I will be able to concentrate because I won't be worried  _ at all _ that you would be so tired that you'd fall and hit your head, and it's  _ perfectly _ fine if I get a  _ B _ or something. And so what, if it tarnishes my  _ perfect _ 4.0 GPA, it's  _ perfectly _ fine as long as  _ you _ think you will be fine."

Quinn sighed loudly, knowing that she had been had and she pouted. "You know Rach, it's  _ really _ not cool that you use your powers of Jewish guilt on me," she grumbled.

"Are you going to go take that nap?" Rachel nagged gently, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Yes," she said begrudgingly.

"Then I'd like to think that I'm using my powers for good, and not evil," the brunette replied, a smug smile on her face.

"Bite me.”

Rachel laughed at the adorable scowl on her friend's face. "Aw, don't hate me because I care about you so much, Quinny."

"Oh wow, that was awful.  _ Never _ use that nickname for me ever again," she demanded as she poked at Rachel's side with her finger, smirking when the brunette let out a little squeal.

"But  _ Quinny _ ," Rachel whined playfully. " _ I _ like it. You won't want to refuse me something that I like, would you?"

"Is there no  _ end _ to this guilt thing?"

"No, I could go on for hours," Rachel replied, her brown eyes shining with mirth.

Hazel eyes widened, feeling her cheeks burning at the direction her mind had gone after processing her words and seeing Rachel's proud smirk. "I think I'm going to smack Puck for teaching you about sexual innuendo," Quinn mumbled, feeling the heat rise up her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

"Aw look at you. You're all flustered. That's so  _ cute _ ," Rachel cooed at her, raising her hand to lightly pinch Quinn's crimson cheek.

Quinn's blush deepened, trying to fight a smile as she smacked Rachel's hand away. "Oh shut up."

\---

There were only two days until Sectionals and Rachel knew that Mr. Schuester was very likely, going to want them to practice for the full hour and a half as that was what they had been doing for the past month. Rachel waved to Quinn when she spotted her friend walking into the music room, looking slightly rested but still pretty fatigued as she shuffled across the room. She figured that maybe Quinn could handle for just under an hour at best, but any more than that could be detrimental to her and the baby. Quinn gave her a shy smile before going over to sit next to Finn.

"Okay guys, Sectionals is just a couple of days away. We've got our set-list and we've rented the bus so that Artie can ride with us. Let's get started on-" Mr. Schuester stopped when he saw the club captain frantically waving her hand. "Yes, Rachel?"

Rachel lowered her hand back down. "Mr. Schue, I think we should have a free hour, maybe a jam session? We have been working awfully hard and I think it would be prudent for us to take some time to relax," she offered with a bright smile, proud that she thought of a way for Quinn to not exert herself too much but still making sure that their time in Glee was not wasted. Her smile dropped when she realized that everybody's eyes were on her, looking at her like she was even more crazy than usual. "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Did you just say  _ jam session _ ? No, screw that, did  _ you _ just say that we should  _ relax _ ?" Noah asked in complete disbelief while the others nodded, sharing his sentiment.

"Normally I would resent your implied accusations. Not that whatever you're probably trying to say isn't true, just that I would resent it nonetheless. But just for today, I don't care. I think it would be good for us to have a break. We've been rehearsing non-stop and it'd be nice to just sing and dance for fun without worrying about the competition just for a little while," she reasoned, pleading her case even though she  _ knew _ that everybody clearly wanted to take some time off from practicing. Rachel didn’t actually  _ want _ to take the time off, thinking that they needed to be practicing  _ this very second _ , but one look into Quinn's tired hazel eyes and Rachel knew that she would rather forgo every rehearsal until the blonde was feeling better.

"I think that's a great idea, Rachel," Mr. Schuester interjected, smiling encouragingly at her.

She returned a grateful smile. "Thank you, Mr. Schue. I  _ do _ have a suggestion for a song though, just y'know, to start us off."

He chuckled at her sheepish smile. "Of course you do."

\---

Quinn was humming happily to herself, trying to quickly get her books out of her locker. After Glee ended, Rachel had invited her to dinner, and was waiting outside so Quinn didn’t want to keep her waiting for too long. She laughed to herself, thinking about how Rachel was trying so hard to make sure that she didn't overdo it, trying to not make it too obvious that she was looking out for Quinn. But she knew what her friend was doing all along and she felt a burst of gratitude for the singer because even though she  _ was _ feeling a little better from her nap, Quinn was pretty sure that she wouldn't have been able to make it through more than two run-throughs for their Sectionals performance.

"Fabray."

The blonde closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in frustration, exhaling a slow, shaky breath into the space of her locker. Mentally cursing the Fates for getting herself in the exact same situation where she really did not want her good mood to be ruined by Santana, again. She nearly lost Rachel the last time it happened and that was something she definitely did not want to experience,  _ again _ . And she knew from the guarded tone in Santana's voice that she wasn’t looking for a friendly chat, again. 

But Quinn also knew that this confrontation needed to happen. She had questions that only the brunette could answer; mainly the question as to why she tried so hard to keep Quinn away from Rachel in the first place. Why she was so against Quinn being friends with Rachel. They needed to clear the air so they could move on from this.

"Lopez." When Quinn didn’t get an immediate reply, she sighed once and turned to face Santana, who had her arms crossed with her usual scowl etched across her face. "Okay what, what did I do  _ this _ time?" she asked defensively.

Santana unfolded her arms, advanced forward to stand in front of Quinn, slamming her locker door shut in the process making Quinn take a cautious step back. The brunette rolled her eyes and scoffed at the pregnant blonde. Santana gripped Quinn's wrist tightly, pulling her towards the girls' bathroom so they could talk in private as the hallway was still littered with a few students. As soon as they entered, Santana leaned back against the door while Quinn went further inside to stand against the sink, facing the mirror. Quinn didn’t say anything, didn’t know what to say just yet, so she waited for Santana to initiate the conversation and the brunette didn’f disappoint.

"You think, that just because Rachel forgave you, it completely erases everything?"

Quinn's eyebrows knitted together. The brunette ignored her silent reaction and pressed on, "You think that just because you've been making nice and going over to her place for dinner a couple of times and watched  _ Funny Girl _ with her, it makes you two good and solid?"

"I never thought  _ any _ of those things and hey,  _ you _ tortured her too."

"Yeah, but I'm not the one who wants in her too-short-for-school-skirt,"

Quinn felt her heart stop, unable to believe that Santana wanted to open  _ that _ can of worms. "Excuse me?!"

"Oh don't look so scandalized, Q. It doesn't suit you."

"I don't  _ want _ in her skirt," Quinn protested, her face turning a crimson red.

"Yeah yeah, and your lame hand-holding thing is what? A 'friendly' gesture?" Santana asked sarcastically. .

"Yes. Because we  _ are _ just friends."

"Come on Quinn, you used to make it your daily  _ mission _ to make some crack about her 'manly hands', which just goes to show how obsessed you were with her back then and you were only fixated on her  _ hands _ . And have you forgotten that you once spent  _ hours _ in this very bathroom drawing those dirty pictures of her. And that was when you guys weren't even  _ friends _ . Are you seriously trying to tell me now that you are, you never  _ once _ thought about fuc-"

Quinn felt her blood churning,  _ boiling _ , inside her and the pressure of her heart thudding violently against her chest was making it so incredibly hard to breathe. And it reminded her of that day and how she felt this exact same thing when Santana was watching her with Rachel, who was trying to ask her what was wrong, trying to find out why Quinn was ignoring her. Quinn knew the direction Santana was going, what she was going to say; something Quinn  _ really _ didn’t want to hear, wasn’t at all  _ ready _ to hear, and the next thing Quinn knew was the red haze falling away and her palm tingling all over. When she looked up from her hand, shock and guilt washed over her and she gasped out loud when she saw Santana cupping her face with her hand, flinching when she felt the bruise. Santana rushed to look at the mirror, her brown eyes widening at seeing the evidence of Quinn's hard slap.

"Damn," Santana breathed out.

The blonde began to panic. "Oh god! I'm  _ so _ sorry. I didn't mean to- I mean, I  _ did _ \- I mean, you were being  _ crude _ about Rachel, but I didn't mean to hit you so har- Why are you grinning like that? You're going to hit me, aren't you?" Quinn backed away in fear after seeing Santana's frighteningly unreadable smile.

"I'm not going to hit you,” the brunette calmly told her.

"You're not?"

Santana sighed, turning away from the mirror to face the blonde. "Q, do you know how long it has been since you showed any life?  _ Besides _ the one you're already carrying inside you?"

Quinn looked at the brunette, still not getting it.

"Do you realize that since the whole school found out about you getting knocked up, and your parents kicked you out, all  _ you've _ been doing is a really good impression of a very depressing zombie? There was none of that  _ fire _ that you used to have.”

"So what, all this crap that you've been pulling on me was what? You caring about my welfare?" the blonde asked bitingly.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Fine. Then answer this, what would the old Head Cheerio Quinn Fabray have done if I had told, no,  _ ordered,  _ her to stay away from somebody that she so very obviously wanted to keep around?"

"I would have made you do suicides until you passed out. Then I would have made you done it all over again until  _ I _ say you're done," Quinn answered automatically, taken aback by the instinctively authoritative tone in her voice.

The brunette's grin was instantly smug as she leaned back against the sink. "Exactly."

Santana didn’t know how it happened. When  _ Rachel Berry _ got under her skin and actually made her  _ care _ . She hated ( _ hated _ !) it when her girlfriend suddenly had the  _ ridiculous _ idea to befriend the diva. But she couldn't say no to Brittany, not when the blonde pulled out that damn irresistible pout and combined it with those big, blue and beautiful eyes that she loved so much. Not that Santana had any choice in the matter anyway because once Brittany got an idea, she was sticking to it. Santana was just there to make sure that Rachel didn't open her big mouth and said something hurtful to Brittany. And god, was it freaking  _ hard _ to not say the things she wanted to say, to let go of the habit of saying the usual bitchy things to the smaller brunette. So she kept out of their conversations and just sat there, silently holding on to Brittany's hand as her girlfriend talked to the diva about some stupid song that Santana didn't care about.

It angered her then, watching Quinn and her "my life sucks" routine because she  _ knew _ the blonde was so much better than that, was so much  _ stronger _ than that. And to see Quinn going around with those weepy eyes like some freaking wounded  _ puppy _ , well, it just pissed her right off. And so to have the blonde slap her like that? Sure, it hurt like a  _ bitch _ but god, it felt  _ good _ to know that Quinn still had that fight in her. 

Santana had seen the looks that the two girls were sharing and she knew beyond a doubt that if this friendship was heading where she thought it was going, somebody had to shock Quinn back into life. Because Rachel needed somebody with fight in them, somebody who would fight  _ with _ her and  _ for _ her. Finn was a good, sweet guy but he was too thoughtless and too weak to know what to do with Rachel. And frankly, Santana was just getting  _ sick _ of the way he treated the girl.

So really, she didn’t know  _ how _ it happened. But she did know that the very moment she saw Quinn and Rachel start to hang out more often, it was like something snapped inside her. Awakening an instinct she had only ever associated with Brittany. And god, did she hate it. 

"But what does this have to do with Rachel?"

Hazel eyes locked down into brown eyes, beseeching them for an answer.

Santana pushed herself off the sink, pressing a hand to her forehead, like she was trying to decide something. "Ugh, look, I'm going to say some things and I’m going to need you to never repeat _any_ of it, to _anyone_ , especially to Berry. Because if you do, I will _seriously_ cut you, pregnant or not," she threatened, giving the blonde her most intimidating, scariest glare.

Quinn complied with a slow nod.

Santana took a deep breath. She began to pace in front of Quinn. "I didn't like Berry. Like really, I had absolutely _no_ love for the girl. She's annoying, talks too freaking much and sometimes when she gets excited, she gets kind of loud and all… flaily with her hands. She's tiny but damn, those things can pack a wallop. And she's so... _Bright and shiny_ , it actually _hurts_ my eyes to see it. Now you know Brittany. She's pretty bright and shiny too but her, I don't mind so much because I love her. She’s my girl. And I admit, I hated it when they started hanging out together because it was freaking _Rachel_ _Berry_."

"But?" Quinn prompted when Santana stopped her pacing. 

Quinn was then surprised by Santana's lips twitching up into what looked suspiciously like her version of a fond smile. "But… I got to see the girl beyond the gold stars and the pearly-white smiles. I mean, she  _ still _ talks too much for her own good, and she  _ still _ looks like she dresses herself in the dark and I  _ still _ want to stuff my foot in her mouth so she would just  _ shut the hell up _ ." Quinn chuckled and nodded in mutual understanding. "But, she's real and she's honest. And more importantly, she makes my girl smile because she doesn't treat Brittany like everybody else does."

"Not to mention that Britt told me that if I didn't stop bugging her about it, she was going to cut me off," she added with a pout.

Santana then walked over to stand next to Quinn, leaning back against the wall. "The thing about Rachel is that, even though she  _ seems _ strong and confident which she totally is, she still needs somebody to look after her. Because she's never had that. She's never had somebody to just  _ look out _ for her.”.

"And so you've assigned  _ yourself _ that particular job, haven't you?"

"Well, nobody  _ else _ seems to want that job," Santana muttered bitterly. "Besides, she's kind of become like that annoying little sister that latches onto your leg and doesn't let go unless you decide that it's best to just amputate it."

"You really do paint  _ such _ a saccharine image," the blonde commented dryly.

"Shut up Q, I'm not done," Santana berated through clenched teeth. "I  _ know _ you like Berry, okay? Like you have some sort of  _ feelings _ thing going on and seriously, stop trying to deny it because god, you can't do subtle to save your baby's life."

"But-" She stopped at Santana's scathing glare, daring her to lie. Quinn's defense dropped at the brunette's harsh gaze. "Fine. I-"

Quinn swallowed nervously, felt her pulse racing because the reality of acknowledging what had been buried inside since the very first day she and Rachel became friends, since even that first day when she watched Rachel sing in the auditorium, since then, everything had been building,  _ culminating _ into this moment. And part of Quinn hated that Santana was being so pushy and wanted to kick her ass for even doing this. But a bigger part of her was glad because otherwise she  _ never _ would have been brave enough to face it, to face this truth. 

Not that she was feeling particularly brave right now anyway.

"I do have feelings for her," she whispered softly, closing her eyes because god, it was all just so very  _ overwhelming _ and Quinn was feeling incredibly light-headed right now.

She opened her eyes to see a dash of concern in Santana's brown orbs. Quinn took a deep breath, calming her heart back down to a normal speed. Trying to muster up some bravado, she straightened herself up. "So?"

The brunette quirked up an eyebrow at her. "So, you either go all in or you stop this,  _ completely _ . And  _ I _ say, you go for that second option."

Quinn glared at her in disbelief that Santana was effectively telling her to stay away from Rachel,  _ again _ . "Are you  _ seriously _ asking me to leave her alone again?"

Santana's quick temper came to the fore when anger blazed in brown eyes and she snapped, "Are you just being dense on  _ purpose _ , Fabray? Have you forgotten Finn who is your  _ boyfriend _ ? And don't think I haven't noticed those looks you share with Puck either." 

Quinn growled, looking away in angry shame, wanting to tell Santana about Puck being the baby's father but knew that the brunette wasn’t finished yet. "Berry does not need to be on one of your hooks too, Quinn. She deserves  _ better _ than that. And frankly, it would be  _ preferable _ , as in preferable to  _ me _ because I  _ really _ don't want to kick your ass, if you don't try anything rather than do something and inevitably break the girl's heart," she finished with a firm glare.

Quinn gave Santana her best icy glare. "What makes you think  _ I'll _ break her heart? What if she breaks  _ mine _ ? I'm the one with more to lose."

The brunette failed to hold back a bark of laughter at Quinn's words. "Lose  _ what _ ? Your  _ ever _ -glowing reputation? Face it, Q, you've already been kicked out of your own home  _ and _ you're living in your boyfriend's house. You've also lost anything that could resemble  _ credibility _ in this school. Rachel is already the scapegoat for a lot of people to vent  _ their _ frustrations, don't make it worse."

"And excuse me, don't we have a  _ shining _ example as to how you can so easily hurt her?" Santana acerbically added, digging the knife deeper into Quinn's aching heart and the blonde flinched as a flash of Rachel's watery brown eyes played in her mind. "What was the plan, genius? Get the girl, and keep it a secret? Keep  _ her _ a secret? Not on my watch, Fabray."

Quinn's mind went blank, unable to come up with a good comeback for Santana and she felt the start of a panic attack, her breathing coming hard and fast because this was all just  _ too _ much,  _ too _ fast.

"Babe, don't be so hard on Quinn." Both girls whipped their heads around to see Brittany at the doorway, her very presence quickly deflating the angry tension right out of the room, giving Quinn the chance to finally breathe easier. "Sorry, Rachel was getting worried that Quinn hasn't come out yet so I said I'd come get you and since I didn't see you at Quinn's locker, I figured you'd be here," she explained.

Brittany walked over to Quinn, placing a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. "S just wants Rachel to be happy."

" _ Hey _ ! Let's not say that kinda stuff out loud okay?" Santana hissed, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

Quinn watched as Brittany tenderly palmed Santana's cheek, barely caressing the bruise before planting a gentle peck on the brunette's cheek. Envy settled inside her seeing the utter happiness that her friends were experiencing with each other, wishing that she could have that too. "Don't  _ I _ deserve to be happy too?" Quinn asked, her heart feeling so raw and vulnerable.

Brittany turned to the shorter blonde, and nodded. "Of course you do, Quinn. But what Santana is trying, and  _ failing _ horribly, to say is that you have to be  _ sure _ that it is what you want, Quinn. That  _ Rachel _ is who you want. There is way too much at stake."

"I don't want to hurt her. Not again.”

Brittany nodded resolutely. "I know. And somewhere deep, deep,  _ deep _ down inside, Santana knows that too." She gave her girlfriend an indulgent smile. "We're just worried about you. I mean, you're pregnant."

Santana continued, "So you're like, a party mix of hormones. You're vulnerable and dumb enough to make some really, really, impulsive and  _ careless _ decisions."

"We just don't want you getting into anything that you're not even ready for," Brittany added sagely.

"Yeah. I mean, look at you. You're a mess," Santana finished with a smirk, amused at Quinn's confusion with the back and forth between her and Brittany.

"Gee thanks for  _ that _ vote of confidence, S," Quinn remarked sarcastically.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Fine, you're a  _ hot _ mess. A mess, but a  _ hot _ mess. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," Quinn deadpanned.

"Look, Quinn, we're your friends and we love you. But you have to work through your issues before even thinking of pursuing  _ anything _ with Rachel, okay?"

"Doesn't Rachel have issues to work through too?" the pregnant blonde complained.

"Of course she does.”

"So why aren't you telling her all this crap too?"

"Because, we're talking to  _ you _ right now. Jeez Quinn, we're Cheerios, not superheroes," Santana replied, rolling her eyes.

"Rachel is a strong girl. She knows who she is and she isn't going to listen to people telling her who she can't love. Hello, two gay dads, in case you haven't been listening. She won't care that you're a girl. She won't even care that you're Quinn Fabray, the girl who has been torturing her since she got to this school, which is really, the  _ real _ issue here."

Quinn snapped, "No need for  _ that _ reminder, thanks Britt."

"Let her finish," Santana growled.

Brittany smiled gratefully at her girlfriend before turning back to the blonde. "It's just, Quinn, aren't you tired of lying?"

Quinn sighed.  _ Of course _ , she was tired of lying. But she had been tired of it for so long that she didn’t even remember what it was like to  _ not _ lie, what it was like to live without them. Quinn didn’t even remember anymore who she used to be before the lies began building up. The only time Quinn even remotely felt true to herself anymore now was when she was with Rachel because the brunette didn’t expect anything of her. Quinn nodded slowly, keeping her gaze set on the bathroom floor.

A finger tilted her chin to look up into Brittany's cornflower blue eyes, and her lips trembled, wanting to cry so badly at the tender affection in them. "Look, we'll help you get the girl, okay? And it's probably going to take awhile but we need to sort  _ you _ out first."

Quinn spared a glance between her oldest friends, seeing their eyes filled with sympathy and concern for her, and she realized how much she actually missed being around them. Santana might have been harsh on her but that was how their relationship had always been. The brunette gave her a healthy dose of reality so Quinn wouldn't get too lost in herself. And Brittany, so sweet and lovely, almost always knew the right things to say.

"Oh jeez, Fabray, you're not going to cry, are you?"

"No," she choked out, as her falling tears betrayed her before Brittany pulled her into a tight hug.

\---

Quinn finally settled down and the three girls began to talk. After a little while, Brittany looked down at her watch, realizing that she had been gone too long and remembered that Rachel was waiting for them. "I'm going to get back to Rachel. She's probably wondering where we are. So I'm going to leave you two to play nice now." She pointed to the pregnant blonde, "Quinn, don't slap my girlfriend again," then pointed to her girlfriend, "Santana, don't say things that will make Quinn slap you again."

"Yes, Brittany," both girls replied obediently  in unison.

They both watched as Brittany walked through the exit, and a moment of silence surrounded them until Quinn blurted out, "Puck is the father."

Quinn shrinked inside herself when she felt Santana's brown eyes bore intensely on her, wondering what kind of lashing she should expect from the brunette.

"I know," the Cheerio replied instead, in a way that let Quinn know that Santana really had known, known this for awhile in fact and that she had been waiting for the blonde to tell her. Quinn let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Do you hate me?" Quinn asked in a small voice, peering up at the brunette through her eyelashes.

Santana took a good look at her friend, noting her defeated posture and she sighed away her residual anger. She knew that Quinn was already burdened enough by guilt and shame, and the brunette really just wanted her friend back. "No, I don't hate you."

"Really?"

She glared at the blonde, like she couldn’t believe that she was really asking her that. "Jesus Quinn. You're like, my  _ best _ friend okay? And Puck's just  _ some _ guy. Chicks before dicks, remember?"

Quinn grinned slowly and happily, her heart feeling lighter that her oldest friend didn’t despise her. "Does Brittany know?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Duh. Does Berry?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Santana nodded approvingly.

"So are  _ we _ good then? You're not going to like, nag at me about Rachel again, are you?"

Santana scoffed. "I did not  _ nag _ . And yeah, we're good." The brunette smirked threateningly. "But make sure you don't hurt her again. I  _ will _ be watching you, Fabray," she promised.

"I'll do my best," she promised and then she chuckled. "Who would have thought that you'd be the one to look out for Rachel?"

"Somebody has to do it," the brunette answered, shrugging like it was no big deal.

"I'm glad Rachel has you to watch out for her. You're a really great friend, S."

Quinn snickered when a noticeable blush was rising in Santana's tanned cheeks and the brunette gave her a dirty look. "Yeah yeah, whatever. I'm going before I drown in the sap."

\---

Rachel had been outside with Brittany waiting for Quinn and Santana when they saw only the taller brunette leaving the building on her own. Santana said that Quinn was still inside, and  _ yes _ , still very much alive, thank you very much. 

But Rachel had been concerned when she saw a very clear, very red, and very painful hand-print on Santana's left cheek. The brunette Cheerio waved it off though, telling her that it didn't hurt, and that everything between her and Quinn was fine now. As they were saying goodbye, she saw the look in Santana's brown eyes, warning her once again, to be careful. But this time, the warning seemed softer as Santana also gave her a half-grin before dragging Brittany to her own car.

As she watched Santana drive her car out of the school campus, Rachel decided to go back inside, knowing that Quinn probably wanted to take a moment to process everything that happened. Even though Santana said they were fine, Rachel still worried about what Quinn might be feeling from the confrontation. 

Brittany had told her that Santana went to talk to Quinn and a bubble of fear grew inside her. Afraid that talking to Santana would make Quinn ignore her again. But the blonde told her to wait, that this needed to happen between Santana and Quinn. Rachel still couldn't help but worry.

She first went to Quinn's locker and found that she wasn’t there. She decided to then check the girls' bathrooms and found that Quinn wasn’t in any of them either. So she stopped to think about where Quinn would possibly go in times like these, where she would go to have some time to herself, to think, and Rachel found herself walking towards the auditorium. 

She climbed up the stage, making her way to the velvet curtain and she pulled it back, thinking back to when she did this very same thing just a few weeks ago. And just like then, when she looked inside, she found the very same settled figure, leaning back against the backstage wall. She smiled this time though, whispering softly, "Hey you."

Quinn turned her head to see Rachel, leaning against the wall, her arms folded and her head tilted to the side, looking intensely at Quinn with her dark brown eyes. She liked these rare moments that they shared, moments when Rachel was quiet, thoughtful and patiently waiting for her. Moments when they would just lock gazes and smiled at each other, almost like they were having this silent, intimate conversation that nobody else was privy to. It was comfortable, the quiet that they shared; it belonged only to them and they wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey," Quinn whispered back.

Rachel pushed herself off the wall, going over to sit next to the blonde. "Are you alright?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, I told Santana about Puck and the baby," she answered quietly, her hands fidgeting on her lap.

"How did she take it?" Rachel asked, taking one of Quinn's hands into her own, interlacing their fingers together.

The blonde grinned contentedly, feeling a sense of calm settling over her when Rachel took her hand. "She already knew about it. And she was actually okay with it. I should have known that she would be really."

"I'm glad." Rachel playfully tugged on Quinn's hand, smiling too. "See Quinn, you're not alone. You have us looking out for you."

"The same goes for you too, apparently," the blonde mumbled, thinking of Santana and feeling glad that she had been looking out for Rachel. Even if it was to protect her from Quinn herself.

"What?"

Quinn shook her head. "Never mind." She smiled reassuringly. "Sing for me?"

"What am I, your jukebox?" Rachel teased jokingly.

"Please?" she begged before popping her bottom lip into a very exaggerated pout. "The baby just wants to hear her Rachel sing. You wouldn't want to deprive her of that joy of hearing your  _ amazing _ voice, would you, Rachel?"

The singer raises an eyebrow at Quinn, shaking her head. "I don't know whether to be appalled or impressed that you actually tried to use  _ guilt _ on me. And extra points for calling me ‘her’ Rachel.  _ Very _ nice touch there, Fabray."

Quinn smiled proudly. "I learned from the best,  _ Berry, _ " she teased back, laughing when the brunette's free hand lightly smacked her shoulder.

"Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really glad that we're friends." Quinn gently squeezed Rachel's hand in her own, as if to emphasize just how much she meant it. "I don't even know what I would do without you now." And she meant it all.

The brunette softly smiled back in return. "I'm glad too," she murmured. "So," she began, turning over Quinn's hand before placing their connected palms on Quinn's baby bump, beaming when they felt the familiar thuds of the baby kicking, "What do you and Baby Fabray want to hear?"

"Anything. We just want to hear you," Quinn shyly replied.

Rachel nodded. "Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I'd have time to upload the next chapter but here it is, yay!  
> Hit me up on tumblr/twitter, same username, :).
> 
> Have an awesome weekend, folks!


	7. Chapter Seven

It was the night before Sectionals and Quinn was in the middle of packing everything that she owned into the duffel bag she brought with her when her parents kicked her out. Finn was in his room, playing video games as usual and Quinn had never been more than glad that he was currently distracted with the game so that there was no chance of him coming in and finding her doing this. 

They had an early morning tomorrow as they had to be up in time to get to school for the bus to where Sectionals was being held and so this was the only time she could do this. Quinn folded her clothes slowly and carefully, keeping her movements unrushed as she removed every single trace of her in the room. She didn’t want to leave behind anything that would remind Finn of her because she knew that after tomorrow, he wasn’t going to want to remember that she was ever here in the first place. Anything that she owned was in this room and nowhere else because she knew that this was only temporary. She knew that the truth about the baby would have to come out eventually so she couldn't make this house into a home.

Quinn came out of her reverie when she heard her phone ringing, the ringtone letting her know that it was her favourite person calling her. She was glad that she was basically finished with packing and she picked up her bag, placing it beside her bed. She went to lay down after grabbing her phone off her charger, pressing to accept the call.

"Hey," she quietly greeted the brunette.

"Hey you," Rachel replied, her sleepy voice bringing an adoring smile to Quinn's lips. "Are you all packed?"

Rachel was just about ready to fall asleep when her mind began to drift to the blonde, and the next thing she knew was that she wanted to know how Quinn was doing, that she worried the blonde might be feeling scared and nervous about tomorrow. So she picked up her phone and dialled Quinn's number. Rachel wished that she was there with Quinn right now because she knew that the blonde must be feeling so alone and unsure, and Rachel couldn’t bear thinking about it as she felt her heart clench at the very mental image of Quinn's sad eyes flashing in her mind. 

Quinn had told her earlier that day, that she would be packing all her things tonight so that when tomorrow came, after she told Finn about Puck and the baby, she would be ready when Finn would inevitably tell her to leave. Rachel still clung to the ideal that Finn wouldn't do that to Quinn, but the defeated, knowing look in hazel eyes told her that she shouldn't hold onto false hopes.

"Pretty much," the blonde murmured. She looked around the room, taking note of the last few items that she needed to pack before she was completely done. It was funny, she thought sardonically, how her entire life now could fit into just one medium-sized duffel bag. She wondered whether everything in that bag could actually tell her story, whether it could actually tell where she had been and where she was going to be. 

She sighed, wishing that sometimes that the answer could just plop right down on her lap, just so she would know that she was doing the right thing. She  _ knew _ that she was; she just wanted to know for sure because the only thing she really knew for sure was that Finn was going to  _ hate _ her. And god, just because she didn’t love him, didn’t mean that she didn’t  _ care _ .

"You okay?" Rachel asked quietly, hearing the morose tone in the girl's voice.

Quinn sighed again and bit down on her lip before whispering, "No," shaking her head even though she knew Rachel couldn’t see her.

Rachel racked through her brain, trying to think of something comforting to say and was surprised to find herself unable to come up with anything. She knew that all Quinn wanted to know was that everything was going to be okay, but Rachel didn’t  _ know _ that. She might hope that Finn wouldn’t hate the blonde, but she didn’t actually  _ know _ if he would prove her right. What Rachel  _ did _ know was that she was going to be there for the blonde, for better or for worse, and she struggled to think of a way to articulate it to her.

The blonde heard rustling through the phone and she thought that maybe Rachel was trying to sit up in her bed. She opened her mouth, about to ask the brunette to do something when Rachel shyly asked, "Do you, um, want me to sing you something?"

Quinn had to take in a deep breath and she whimpered, "Please," because god, how did Rachel  _ do _ that? How did Rachel so  _ effortlessly _ , make her feel better by knowing what she needed right now? That it was nothing more than to hear the brunette's sweet voice singing to her, to calm her frazzled nerves. Quinn heard the brunette clearing her throat as she tried to get into a more comfortable position, placing her hands on her belly to feel her baby kicking, nestling her phone closer to her ear so she would be able to hear Rachel.

_ When you're all alone, _ _   
_ _ and you need a light, _ _   
_ _ someone to guide you through the night, _ _   
_ _ just remember that I am here, _ _   
_ __ to hold you close and dry your tears. 

Quinn sighed, taking in Rachel's crooning words and feeling that all-too familiar peace settling over her. And as she fell asleep to the sound of the brunette's voice, she thought to herself that maybe, just maybe, things will turn out okay, as long as she had Rachel. Everything would be okay.

_ Whenever you need me, _ _   
_ _ I'll always be right there. _

\---

"Guys, we need to deal with this."

Will Schuester looked wildly around around the room to see his Glee club wearing various looks of horror and disbelief. It was the day of Sectionals and they had just walked out of the concert hall after having sat through one appallingly mediocre performance after another of  _ their _ set-list. Just a few minutes ago, Rachel had stood up in a huff and demanded that they needed to have a meeting "right  **_now_ ** " and one by one they obediently shuffled out of their seats and followed her into the green room that was allocated for their club. 

Right now, Artie was ramming his wheelchair into the wall, consequently hitting his head in frustration. His club captain on the other hand had taken to resting her forehead against the wall in the far corner of the room, a despondent slump to her shoulders and her hair curtaining her face from the group. Quinn was standing next to Rachel, a look of worry on her face, biting down on her bottom lip as she watched over the brunette. Then he witnessed Quinn placing her hand to rest on Rachel's shoulder in a show of comfort.

He didn’t really know what to think about this budding friendship between the two girls. When he first saw them walking amicably in the school hallway together, he was so shocked that he very nearly walked into an open locker door. He had only heard about the slushies that Rachel took to the face and the animosity Quinn had for the brunette. At first he was worried that Quinn might have an ulterior motive in befriending the brunette, and Rachel was just always so eager to please that Will knew she wouldn't turn down the blonde, knew that she would never think about saying no to a new friend. But he had seen them interacting together, during Glee and even sometimes when they were just walking together and he could see that the friendship was mutually genuine and sincere. 

Since the news of the pregnancy broke, Quinn always looked so sad and lost and Will admired her determination to keep getting up and going to school every day. But there was just no spark to her anymore. Sure, she had some moments when the old Quinn Fabray would come out and bite, but for the most part, she just looked like she had nothing to hold on to, nothing to keep her grounded. And from the numerous times that Finn would come to him for advice after Quinn got angry with him about something, Will worried that the young couple might not last for very much longer.

But since this friendship began, Quinn didn’t look like she was carrying the weight of the world on her own anymore, Finn seemed happier to not be suffering the brunt of her frustrations and Rachel... Will didn’t know how to describe it because to somebody who didn’t know Rachel, who didn’t see her everyday, they wouldn't really notice the changes in her. Her changes were more subtle; her smiles were still just as bright as ever but there seemed to be a softer edge to them now, like it wasn’t just for show anymore and they were almost always directed at Quinn. And what surprised him even more was when Quinn responded with shy smiles of her own.

He wondered about  _ that _ the most, really.

His attention then went to Santana muttering what he was pretty sure were mostly curse words, and he frowned wanting to scold her but he knew that she was expressing her annoyance with the situation. She locked her gaze on him and snaps, "Mr. Schue, they  _ stole _ our set-list. We can't go out there and perform our songs now. We will look like  _ idiots _ . We'll sound miles better than both of them combined  _ duh _ , but we'll  _ still _ look like idiots. Have you never seen  _ Bring It On _ ?" she asked, looking at him with an incredulous look on her face.

At Santana's perplexing question, Rachel turned to face the room, her eyebrows knitted together into a frown. "I don't understand. How did this even happen?" she asked dejectedly. The brunette looked to Quinn who only shrugged and shook her head indicating that she didn’t have a clue.

Mr. Schuester ran his fingers through his curly hair, sighing before he replied, "I have a bad feeling that Coach Sylvester somehow got a hold of our set-list and leaked it to the other schools."

" _ They _ did it. It  _ has _ to be." Everybody's gaze followed Mercedes' pointed finger that was directed at the two Cheerios in the room.

"Mercedes is right. Who else would Coach Sylvester get the set-list from? They don't want to be here. They're her little  _ moles _ !" Kurt snapped, accusing them with his icy blue eyes.

Brittany whimpered pathetically at the accusation and Santana glared at both Mercedes and Kurt for actually  _ daring _ to hurt Brittany. The brunette Cheerio stalked towards them, intent on kicking their sorry asses goodbye but was held back by Quinn, mumbling at her to let it go.

"Kurt! Mercedes!" Rachel hissed, her own protective nature coming to the fore as an enraged glare flashed in her brown eyes. She saw the wounded puppy look in Brittany's baby blue eyes, and Rachel realized that she  _ really _ didn’t like that look at all. Plus, Santana looked like she wanted nothing more than to claw their faces off, so Rachel stepped in, wanting to avoid a possible bloodbath. "You don't have any proof that they did it or that they're even spies. And I can't even believe that you're accusing them so easily. They are our  _ friends, _ " she growled at them before she walked over to give Brittany a consoling hug. The taller blonde eagerly wrapped her long arms around Rachel's petite waist and gave her a light squeeze, letting her know that she was okay, and it abated Rachel's anger somewhat.

For their part, the two best friends looked properly reprimanded and shrunk in their seats, frightened by the tiny brunette's ire, unused to seeing her like that. Kurt and Mercedes exchanged glances, having a silent conversation before they apologized in unison, "We're sorry, Brittany."

The blonde Cheerio nodded, accepting their apology. Over Rachel's head, Brittany glanced over at Santana, looking like she was asking the brunette something and when Santana gave her a firm nod, Brittany sighed. "Coach  _ did _ ask us to spy for her," she admitted quietly into Rachel's ear.

"What?" Rachel choked out, harshly pulling away from Brittany's hold. She looked in between Brittany, Santana and Quinn, and she saw the guilt on their faces and she gasped in shock at what the people she considered her friends had just admitted.

"Berry look, we  _ did _ spy for her-" Santana walked towards her, her arms extended as though she was trying to reach out for Rachel but she stopped herself mid-stride and crossed her arms instead.  _ " _ But neither of us ever gave her the set-list," she quickly added. She was only met with silence and even more incredulity, and she rolled her eyes at them,  _ grossly _ annoyed that they weren’t taking her word for it. "Okay, look, believe what you want, but no one's  _ forcing _ me to be here. And if you ever tell anyone this, I'll deny it. But I  _ like _ being in Glee Club. It's the best part of my day, okay? I wasn't going to go and mess it up."

Brittany and Quinn looked at Rachel, two pairs of pleading blue and hazel eyes meeting her brown ones, letting her know that they agreed with Santana, that they too, loved being in Glee Club. That they would never do anything to jeopardize their chances of winning Sectionals like this. Rachel watched as Santana went to sit on the chair beside her. She glanced at the brunette, saw the sincerity in her dark brown eyes and her intuition told her that Santana wasn’t lying and that her confession, albeit reluctant, was genuine.

"I believe you," she softly declared, looking at the three girls, letting them know that all was forgiven. Brittany pulled Rachel back into a tight, grateful hug and Rachel found herself trying to catch her breath from the force of her friend's embrace.

Santana met her eyes, her lips twitching up into a quick and small grateful smile before slipping right back into a frown. Rachel pulled away from the blonde Cheerio, looked at Quinn standing beside her, sending what she hoped was an assuring smile to the pregnant blonde, hoping to quell the worry she knew Quinn was feeling right now. 

Rachel just could not believe that this was happening right now, that they were  _ this _ close to showing everybody that their club was the little club that could. After everything that they had been through, Rachel really thought that there couldn't  _ possibly _ be more obstacles in their way. And Rachel really  _ hated _ to be proven wrong. She wanted to cry; she wanted to scream but she knew she had to show them that this was  _ just _ another bump on the road for them, that she was unfazed by this unpredictably  _ bad _ turn of events.

She took a deep breath, pushing down her anxiety to the furthest corner of her mind before putting on a bright smile as she faced the room, clapping her hands to get their attention. "Okay look, guys, there is no point in us arguing anymore and we  _ need _ to stop wallowing. We can't do anything about this now. What's done is done. We are just going to have to move on and figure something out."

The usually-quiet Tina spoke up, "But how? We don't have a set-list. And we have only an hour before we have to go on."

The glee club watched as a determined look took over their captain's face. "Then we will just have to come up with something right now and give them a performance they'll  _ never _ forget."

"It's not going to be perfect, Rachel, you do know that, right?"

Rachel turned to Mr. Schuester, taking in the concern in his eyes and she nodded resolutely. "I understand perfectly, Mr. Schue. But I would rather burn all my Barbra Streisand CDs than admit defeat, and I'm sure my fellow glee clubbers' feelings are similar to mine." She looked around the room, seeing eleven heads nod in agreement. "So I think, we can deal with imperfect just for today."

"Any ideas?" she asked, looking at each and everyone of them.

Quinn stepped forward. "We can replace  _ Don't Stop Believin' _ with  _ Somebody to Love _ ? It's a real crowd-pleaser."

The brunette smiled gratefully at the blonde for her contribution. "That's an excellent idea, Quinn. Now, we need another song for us to sing together."

"What about  _ Hello Goodbye _ to replace  _ Proud Mary _ ?" Finn suggested excitedly. "I mean, I know we haven't practised it much but Brittany, Santana, Mike and Matt can help come up with a kick-ass choreography?"

Rachel nodded happily, noticing the enthusiasm in the room growing by the second. "Yes! Finn, that's  _ brilliant _ . Are you guys okay with that?" At the nods of the foursome, she turned to Mercedes, "Do you have another ballad in your repertoire that you can perform?"

Mercedes sighed defeatedly. "Yeah but, it's not as good as anything you're going to sing,"

She shook her head, protesting, "No, we agreed-"

"We agreed that I would sing  _ And I'm Telling You _ and that's just not happening. Look Rachel, the truth is, you're the best singer that we've got," Mercedes said reluctantly.

"As much as it hurts me to admit it, and it does," Kurt added, "she's right. Rachel is our star. If anyone's going to go belt it on the fly, it should be her."

The three divas looked between each other before Rachel shyly confessed, "Well I  _ do _ have something that I've been working on since I was four."

And at that moment, the room came alive and everybody was in motion. Santana, Brittany, Matt and Mike huddled together to come up with the steps while everybody else got busy warming up and changing into their outfits. Rachel sighed happily. While she did feel sorry that Mercedes wouldn’t be performing her song, she was still excited that she was finally getting her chance to show everyone that she could do this, that she could be the star she had always wanted to be, that she had always told them she will be. And this time, they would truly believe it. A flutter of pre-show nerves swirled around in her stomach, telling her not to mess this up. She turned to Quinn and she saw a beautiful smile on the pregnant girl's face and Rachel just  _ knew _ , that everything was going to work out for them. Her hand reached out to Quinn's when Mr. Schuester interrupted, "Rachel?"

The singer looked at him, dropping her hand away from it's destination. "Yes, Mr. Schue?"

"I just want to say that, I am very proud of the way you handled the situation and how you got them back on their feet like that. You're a very good captain, Rachel."

The brunette blushed from his warm praise, smiled even more brightly when she felt Quinn's hand wrapping in her own, pale fingers effortlessly interlacing with her own tanned ones. Rachel glanced over at the blonde to see her nodding her head to agree with their teacher. "Thank you, Mr. Schue."

"So, what song are you going to be singing?" he asked, peering curiously down at the girls' entwined hands.

"Guess you'll just have to find out later." Rachel grinned mysteriously, giving Quinn's hand a light squeeze.

\---

"Hey, you look great." Quinn faced away from the mirror and saw Rachel smiling softly at her. "Kurt and Mercedes did a really good job with our outfits, didn't they?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied, turning back to the mirror. She looked down at her protruding belly as she stroked it, sighing wistfully when she felt her baby kick against her hand. "You don't think I look fat and ugly?"

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the girl's question. "You're pregnant, so that's not fat. And ugly?  _ Impossible _ ," Rachel teased.

" _ Seriously _ , Rachel."

Rachel frowned, taking one look at Quinn's beseeching eyes, realizing the insecurity the pregnant girl was currently feeling. She thought it was  _ ridiculous _ that Quinn, or anybody else for that matter, could ever think that the blonde was in any way, shape or form, ugly. There was just no way. She moved to stand just behind Quinn, looking at their reflection together. She brought her gaze from Quinn's perfectly straightened blonde hair down to the way her dress intimately hugged her body and back up again. Yes, pregnant or not, Quinn could  _ definitely _ never be ugly. Rachel looked up to lock her brown eyes with Quinn's sparkling hazel as she placed a small hand on the blonde's arm. "Seriously. You look beautiful, Quinn." 

She squeezed the girl's arm, gently turning Quinn around to face her. She raised her hand to rest on Quinn's cheek, staring intently into hazel eyes, taking in flushed cheeks and plump lips. "Breathtaking, really," she whispersef reverently, itching to lower her hand to behind the blonde's graceful neck and just pull her down for a kiss but she barely, just _barely_ , managesd to restrain herself by softly stroking the warm skin under her palm. She felt Quinn tremble as she brushed her thumb over the blonde's cheekbone, and she frowned slightly. "Are you okay? You're not nervous, are you?" she asked.

Quinn vehemently shook her head, feeling a heated blush rise up her face that the reason for her shivering was more to do with the brunette's cool hand on her cheek rather than stage fright. Her heart racing speedily as she fought the desire to close her eyes and tilt her head just ever so slightly so she could m gently peck the palm that was caressing her, or even to grab that hand and pull Rachel hard flush against her body. The yearning to do either of those things was so great that Quinn had to take a deep breath, pushing all her lustful feelings down before choking out a reply, "No. Of course not."

The brunette gave her a little smile. "It's perfectly fine to be nervous, Quinn," Rachel reassured the blonde. "I am a seasoned performer, having done this since I was merely eight months old, but I still get nervous too," she confessed, reluctantly dropping her hand away from the blonde's cheek.

"You do?" Quinn asked, quietly disappointed that Rachel took her hand back. The tiny diva's confession took her by surprise, unable to believe that  _ Rachel Berry _ could be nervous about something she was born to do for the rest of her life. And seriously,  _ eight months old _ ?

Rachel nodded, shrugging her shoulders. "Of course. Better to be nervous and excited than nothing at all," she said. "Don't worry though. You'll be great," she added, attempting to put the blonde at ease.

"So will you," Quinn offered.

"Oh, I know," the brunette replied, smirking proudly.

Quinn rolled her eyes and smiled affectionately at the brunette's endearing self-confidence. "You're one of a kind, Rach." The blonde wondered belatedly what the hell happened to the days when Rachel's arrogance annoyed the crap out of her. Then she heard Rachel hum softly to the tune of  _ Somebody To Love _ and she shivered automatically at the sound of the brunette's voice.

Oh yeah,  _ that's _ what happened.

"I know that too," the brunette cheekily countered, making Quinn chuckle.

"How many more things do you know then?" she asked, arching a fine eyebrow at her friend.

Rachel looked up to the ceiling, pressing an index finger to her lips, putting on a face as if she was thinking about it then shrugged. "There are  _ a lot _ of things," she conceded.

"Like?"

She smiled secretively. "Maybe I'll tell you one day," the brunette vaguely replied. They heard a knock on the door, reminding them it was almost time. They both walked out the room together. "I'll see you out there," she told the blonde. and Quinn went to take her place when she felt Rachel grab her wrist. 

"Um," the pregnant girl waited as Rachel bit down on her lip, giving Quinn's wrist a reassuring squeeze, "if you do get nervous, just, look at me, okay? I promise I'll keep you grounded."

The blonde nodded silently, her heart swelling at the care in deep brown eyes, knowing that nervous or not, she was pretty sure that she would be looking at Rachel anyway.

\---

As she walked down the steps towards the stage with her group, Quinn watched Rachel who was standing centre stage with her arms stretched out as she poured her heart and soul into her ballad, sharing herself with the audience, knowing that she had their hearts in the palm of her hand just as she unknowingly had Quinn's in hers. The blonde had never been more aware of the goosebumps on her arms and the raging butterflies fluttering in her stomach that only Rachel's singing could cause. 

She choked back her tears as she thought about how unbelievably proud she was, to be part of this group of people; how happy she was, to be able to call them her friends. And her heart raced, witnessing the illuminating smile on Rachel's beautiful face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, New Directions!"

Rachel turned around to walk towards the group who were waiting for her to get in place so they could get started. They were also beaming in her direction and her smile brightened even more, knowing that she had done them proud. As she walked up the steps, she felt the spark of Quinn's eyes on her and she looked up at the blonde, grinning excitedly at her. She wanted nothing more than to quicken her pace, to go up just a step higher and  _ sweep _ the blonde into her arms because god, this feeling rushing inside her was so  _ incredible _ that she just wanted to share it with the girl. Quinn smiled charmingly back in return, and Rachel kept her eyes trained on sparkling hazel eyes even when she finally reached her mark. With a sly wink to the blonde, she turned to face forward. 

Her eyes scoped over the crowd until she found the glee club directors for the other two schools sitting together, staring at her with their mouths agape. She could see in their eyes that they were struggling with trying to look like they hadn’t done anything wrong and trying to pretend that her  _ beyond _ stellar performance didn't put them a little bit on edge, didn't  _ unsettle _ them. So Rachel made sure to keep their eyes on her as she let them see a slow, lingering smirk on her face and her message was clear:

_ Nobody _ messed with her and her glee club.

\---

It was a victorious ride home. They had sat nervously as they waited for the judges to deliberate their decision. And it took them more than a few moments to realize that it had been  _ their _ name that had been called by the announcer. They sat there with eyes wide and mouths open, unsure if it actually happened. And once it clicked, they simultaneously cheered, hugged each other and rushed to the stage, taking hold of their sizeable trophy, hoisting it high above their heads. They rode back on the bus on their way to the school, singing and laughing. 

After shoving their prize in Coach Sylvester's face, they all decided to have a jam session in the music room, sort of a last hurrah before they began to celebrate their win properly in the weekend. They all groaned good-naturedly when Mr. Schuester started to rap but they sang and danced along anyway, humouring his questionable choice in song.

Not too long after, Quinn was waiting until everybody had trickled out of the room, saying their goodbyes, taking along with them the feeling of victory until there was only her, Finn, Rachel and Puck left in the room. She gave Rachel a longing look, and Rachel nodded, letting her know that she would be waiting by Quinn's car before the blonde handed over her car keys. Finn thought that Quinn was sleeping over at Rachel's and so didn't question it. Didn’t question why Quinn packed a duffel bag for a weekend sleepover because he thought that she was just being a girl, packing more clothes than she actually needed. 

Puck followed, walking out of the room, leaving Quinn with a lingering, searching glance and she thought for a second that he was going to change his mind and stayed behind. She let out a sigh of relief when he continued on out and closed the door behind him. It was just her and Finn now, and Quinn felt her baby kicking against her resting hands as she approached her boyfriend who was sitting at the drum-set, playing to an unknown rhythm in his head.

He had his drumsticks raised up in the air, ready to strike the drum again when she stepped forward, her hands clasped together in front of her, getting his attention as she solemnly said, "Finn, we need to talk." 

The boy looked up at her, questioning in his light brown eyes at the seriousness of her tone. Finn obediently lowered the sticks, resting them securely in his hand. "Sure, babe. What did you want to talk about?"

"It's about the baby," she replied slowly.

In any other situation, Quinn probably would have laughed at Finn's reaction as his eyes widened comically, standing up from his seat in panic, making his words stumble over each other, "Is the baby okay? It's not time, is it? We haven't bought all the baby stuff yet!"

"Finn," Quinn stopped him, shaking her head. "It's not time yet. The baby is fine."

He let out a big sigh of relief, sitting back. "Oh good, because seriously we  _ need _ to at least get her a crib soon. I saw a really nice one the other day that would look great-"

She sighed, wishing that Finn wasn’t such a great guy because this would be  _ so _ much easier if he didn't care about the baby at all. But she looked at him and how excited he was about buying things like baby furniture and things to  _ baby-proof _ his house so she wouldn't get hurt, and it broke Quinn's heart. Because she was going to break  _ his _ , and she wanted so much to avoid looking into his trusting brown eyes but she did, she looked straight up at him. He  _ deserved _ to know.

"Don't buy her a crib," she told him firmly, once again stopping him in his tracks.

Finn frowned, confused. "What? Why not?" he asked. He didn’t understand why his girlfriend was telling him not to buy a bed, because honestly, wouldn't a baby need some place to sleep? It wouldn't be safe otherwise, and he wanted to make sure their baby was always looked after.

She heard her heart beating in trepidation, loud and thumping wildly in her ears as she elaborated, "Because, her  _ father _ is the one who should be buying her crib."

"Well yeah, that's why I said that we should-"

The blonde sighed almost impatiently, becoming aware of the headache that was coming her way and she closed her eyes as she gritted out, "And that's why I told  _ you _ not to."

She could practically hear the wheels in his brain turning as he took in what she just said, opened her eyes to watch him as he tried to piece it all together. "Quinn, what are you trying to say?" he asked carefully, pressing a stern gaze into her hazel eyes, wanting to hear a straight answer.

The blonde steeled herself, taking in a deep, steadying breath. "She's not yours."

There were a few seconds of tense silence and then Finn laughed disbelievingly, thinking that Quinn was joking. "What are you talking about? Of course she's mine, because if she's not mine, that means she's somebody  _ else's _ . And she  _ can't _ be somebody else's because that would mean you were with somebody else and  _ you _ wouldn't-" he paused when he saw the guilt and shame in her eyes before she looked away, "do that to me."

Quinn didn’t know how but somehow Finn deflated and visibly shrunk inside himself and she watched as a myriad of emotions flashed in his eyes, mostly of anger and hurt. He didn’t say anything for so long that she was afraid that he was in shock but she didn’t move to check, afraid that one move might upset the calm. And she really wanted to avoid the storm for just a few more seconds because she saw the sheen of tears in his eyes and she swallowed thickly, telling herself not to cry, telling herself that she  _ couldn’t _ cry, because she didn’t deserve that right.  _ She  _ was the one that hurt him;  _ she _ didn’t get to cry.

She felt his eyes on her, and she thought about the days when she would feel his gaze on her and she remembered feeling loved and cherished by him. Quinn knew that it was all gone now because there was no way that he didn’t hate her, and she wondered how she ever let things get this far, this  _ discombobulated _ . In the corner of her eye, she saw him slump even more down on the stool in a heap, staring at her with dazed eyes.

His question came out soft and full of quiet, impending thunder. "Whose is she?"

She contemplated telling Finn that he didn’t know who the father was, contemplated telling another lie, but then she thought of Puck and how she promised him that he would get to meet his baby girl. And she thought of all the lies that she had been carrying up to this moment. She thought about what Rachel would say if she knew just what was going through Quinn's mind right now. And Quinn knew that she just coildn’t do that anymore. She couldn’t lie.

"Puck's," she answered in a dry whisper.

Finn found himself fighting for air, like somebody had just sucker-punched him. "Puck," he echoed desperately.

Quinn nodded, various chaotic thoughts rushing around in her head and she was wishing that Rachel was here to hold her hand, or sing to her just to keep them at bay. "Yes."

The name didn’t register to him, shock clearly taking over his senses and he had to repeat himself, "My  _ best friend _ , Puck."

Quinn nodded again, Finn's tone like a knife, cutting her down. "Yes."

"My best friend. The guy I consider my  _ brother _ , Puck." This time Finn's voice broke when he said Puck's name and he didn’t remember how to breathe because the pieces were coming together much too fast. When she nodded again, he got up from his seat, nearly knocking over the drum-set. "You lied to me. You  _ both _ lied to me," he accused loudly, harshly.

Quinn cowered away from him, but she still tried to reach out to him, "Finn, I-"

She stopped when he raised his hand, and she couldn’t help but flinch a little even though she wouldn't blame him if he wanted to hit her.

"I just, I need you to  _ not _ talk for just a minute.”

He saw her nod, setting her lips in a tight line and Finn pretended he didn't see her flinch and it hurt him a little bit that she actually thought there was a  _ possibility _ that he would hurt her. Even though a smaller part of him, a smaller vengeful part of him couldn't help enjoy seeing it, he didn’t actually  _ want _ her to be afraid of him. He looked away from her shivering form, wishing to scream out his frustration but then he thought about how in the deepest corner of his mind, all that he was feeling was just  _ relief _ . 

Because now, the baby was not his responsibility to worry about anymore. He wasn’t going to be a teenage father because he just wasn’t  _ ready _ for that. And he hated himself for thinking it because, what if it  _ had _ been his kid? He hated himself for it because he did  _ love _ the baby, even when he knew that Quinn wasn’t going to keep her. He loved that baby because he thought she was  _ his _ ; his to love and to protect. But now she wasn’t. She  _ never _ was his to begin with and his heart broke because he could still feel that love beating in his heart, this love for this little girl that never actually came from him, and he mourned for that loss, but he didn’t have the right to feel that, did he?  _ He wasn't her dad _ .

And god, there was that relief again.

He growled angrily thinking of the lie Quinn told him about the bath-tub and he felt so utterly stupid for believing her so easily. He wondered if she and Puck spent their time laughing at him behind his back. That day he caught them in the home economics room, covered in flour. How could he have not  _ seen _ it? It was  _ right there _ in front of him and he didn't  _ see _ it. Finn looked at the pregnant girl, cradling her baby bump, with her sad eyes and down-turned lips and the way she was trying to make herself seem as small as possible. He knew how hard that must be for Quinn to do because this was Quinn Fabray; Head Cheerio or not, she had never tried to hide herself, and he felt that instinctual need to take her in his arms and comfort her, to make her smile and laugh. But he stopped himself because he couldn’t make himself do that. Not right now. Not when most of what he felt was anger and hurt towards her.

"Was it me? Did I just not love you enough?"

His question startled her out of the awkward silence, making her stare up at him through long, wet eyelashes and he hated her for looking  _ so _ beautiful in her sadness. Quinn closed her eyes and shook her head, "No, Finn, you- you were wonderful. It was me.  _ I _ was feeling insecure because of you and Rachel. You weren't there and Puck  _ was _ and I- I just didn't think about it."

Finn scoffed. "You didn't think about it. You didn't think about  _ me _ , you mean."

"I didn't want to lose you. And I really wanted her to be yours, Finn. I wished so badly that you were her father."

"Well, forgive me if I don't at all feel better by that, because she's  _ not _ mine," he said bitterly.

"She isn't  _ ever _ going to be mine. Because she's my  _ best friend's _ baby girl.  _ Not _ mine," he added, his voice lowering to a miserable, lonely whisper.

"Not mine," he repeated, thinking if he said it enough, the love he felt for the baby would die. But it didn’t and Finn's already breaking heart clenched painfully because he just couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t let her go.

His eyes darted around the room, avoiding beseeching hazel eyes and he spied a set of familiar brown eyes looking into the room through the glass window, not realizing that he could see her as their stare was completely focused on the blonde girl in front of him. But Quinn didn’t notice because she had her own gaze set down to the floor. Finn thought about this past month and remembered thinking how weird that his girlfriend and the girl she supposedly hated suddenly became friends and the truth crashed over him like a tsunami. "Does Rachel know?" he asked, still looking at the brunette's worried face, and it struck him to the core that she was worried for  _ Quinn _ , not him.

"Yes." she answered reluctantly, not wanting Finn to shift his blame to somebody who didn’t even deserve it. 

But Finn was shaking his head, refusing to believe that  _ Rachel _ would keep something like this from him. "That's why you were suddenly friends, weren't you? You wanted her to keep her mouth shut so you just pretended to be her friend."

She cried out, " _ No _ ," her voice hiccuping from the tears she was trying to keep from falling.

He shifted his glaring eyes back onto Quinn when Rachel moved away from the door. "Why 'no'? It sounds  _ exactly _ like something you would do, doesn't it? Use somebody who cares about you just to get what  _ you _ want. Isn't that right?" he barked, attacking her with a biting tone full of reproach and blame.

"Finn, no. I-we- It isn't like that," she stuttered weakly. "I wouldn't use  _ her _ like that," she swore, the thought of using Rachel, hurting her and seeing this same amount of hate and anger in her brown eyes like Quinn was seeing in his; the very thought causing her even more pain than what she was already feeling. Quinn didn’t think she can survive if Rachel truly hated her because of something she did. God, she really wanted Rachel here  _ right now _ .

"But you would use  _ me _ like that, right?" he darkly surmised. "So now what? You want to break up with me, and get together with Puck?"

She shook her head, "I don't want Puck."

"Oh, you want  _ me _ , is that it?" he asked before letting out a bitter,  _ hollow _ laugh that made her stomach drop to her feet because it sounded so strange coming from him, coming from a boy who didn’t have a hateful bone in his body. "No, of course you don't. If that were the case, you wouldn't have gone and had sex with Puck," he spat out, a grimace on his face as he tried to get rid of the mental images of Puck and Quinn out his head.

He made his way to the door, intent on storming out but stopped when another question entered his mind and he didn’t think he actually wanted to know the answer. But call it morbid curiosity, he just had to ask. He lifted his wounded gaze to meet her watery hazel eyes and he asked softly, "Did you ever even  _ love _ me, Quinn? Just tell me, honestly, did you  _ ever _ even love me? Because I loved  _ you _ . Maybe I had feelings for Rachel and still have them, but I stayed for you."

"I stayed for  _ her, _ " he finished in a whisper, his eyes looking pointedly at the cradled baby bump.

It was another few minutes of tense, distressing silence before Quinn broke it with a quiet and scared, "I don't know."

The confession startled him out of his broken reverie and he had to ask her to say it again and she actually looked up at him, looked him in the eyes, and he knew she wasn’t lying when she said, "I don't know if I ever loved you."

Finn looked at the girl that he loved or thought he loved, looked at her closely and he saw the shame that she felt. And he understood that she felt bad, but he really couldn’t even bring himself to care. Everything inside, every seething emotion was conflicting with each other and he wished for one moment that he knew how to numb himself from it all. But the biggest, the  _ foremost _ thing he felt was this huge ball of frustrating  _ anger _ that he knew was waiting and  _ wanting _ to be released. A cry full of anguish stemming from the back of his throat roared out, frightening Quinn so much that she took a few steps back until she found herself planted on the piano bench. She watched him with wide, alarmed eyes as his chest heaved with heavy, difficult breaths. 

He looked at her with red-rimmed eyes and announced, "I need to get out of here," stalking towards the door. He stopped and turned to face the blonde. "When I get home, I don't want to see you there." 

He left before he could see her nod.

\---

Rachel had planned to wait outside the school as she told Quinn that she would, but she was standing out there for not even a few seconds when instinct told her that she  _ had _ to go back inside. She threw her stuff into Quinn's car and literally ran back into the school. She skidded into a stop when she found Noah outside the music room. Now, she could hear two familiar voices coming from the room and she wondered whether Quinn had done it yet, whether Finn knew about Noah and the baby.

The boy greeted her with a firm nod. "Berry."

"Noah," Rachel absent-mindedly replied.

Puck didn’t know why he was still there. He just knew that his baby mama was telling his best friend that  _ he _ was the one that knocked her up, and he wanted to make sure that she actually did it. Not because he  _ cared _ or anything. Quinn already told him that she didn’t want to be with him. 

He looked over at Rachel Berry, watched as she pretended that she wasn’t listening to the muffled sounds coming from the music room. He arched an eyebrow in her direction, letting her know that she wasn’t fooling him and she smiled sheepishly.

Rachel went up to the door and looked through the glass window and saw Quinn standing with her head down and her hands clasped together on her belly. She kept her eyes trained on the blonde, hoping that Quinn could somehow feel that Rachel was there for her. When the blonde didn’t look up, she went to the bench in the alcove that was across from Noah, primly smoothing over her skirt before sitting down. She looked at the closed door, before turning her attention back to Noah. "Waiting for them too, huh?"

Noah nodded again. "Yeah.”

She watched him spare another glance at the door, and her heart clenched in envy at the naked concern in his green-hazel eyes for the mother of his child. She wondered what was going to happen once Quinn found herself single and vulnerable to Noah's charms because despite his uncouth manner and his peculiar affinity to talking about himself in the third person, Noah was vehement in not becoming like his father and he would eagerly spoil Quinn and their daughter rotten. She cursed herself for not actually knowing if Quinn had any feelings for him, only knowing that Quinn didn’t want him to help with the baby. She fought down her selfish thoughts at wanting Quinn and the baby all to herself, focusing on just taking care of the blonde and being her friend.

"How do you think it's going in there?" she asked and Noah shrugged in response.

Just as Noah's shoulders dropped, they heard a loud cry that filled them with cold dread and then the door slammed open as Finn stormed out of the room with fast, big strides and a scarily calm, venomous look of thunder on his face. He didn’t notice them as he stomped towards the school exit. Noah followed Finn with his eyes before he got up, deciding to go after him. Rachel got off the bench. "Noah, don't."

Noah turned back to face her and his hard gaze softened when he met Rachel's worried brown eyes. "I'm just going to make sure he doesn't do something stupid," he promised.

She nodded, thought that once he  _ did _ catch up to the other boy, Finn wasn’t going to hold back and he would hurt Noah. And she thought that maybe Noah knew that and that was exactly why he was so willing to go after Finn right now. "Just, be careful, okay?" she gently begged, knowing that Noah was going to get to Finn, whether she told him to or not.

He looked at the open door, remembering that Quinn was inside. Something inside was telling him to go after his boy and make sure Finn didn’t do anything stupid but still, he was torn between that and wanting to take care of the blonde. He took in a deep breath and made his decision. "Take care of her, Berry.” 

Rachel looked into the music room and saw Quinn sitting at the piano bench, staring into the distance. She bit down on her bottom lip as she nodded, swearing, "I will."

Rachel waited until Noah had exited the door before turning back to the door to the music room. She let in a steadying breath then walked into the room, going over to sit silently by the seemingly catatonic blonde. She folded her hands into fists on her lap, tightening her fingernails into her palms that she could almost draw blood when this desperate, choked sound suddenly came out from the back of the blonde's throat and Rachel realized that Quinn was trying not to cry. It made the brunette want nothing more than to hold Quinn forever just to keep her safe. She unfolded one fist to take one pale hand into it, squeezing to let the blonde know that it was okay to cry, that she was there for her.

Quinn felt Rachel's small hand in her own, and it anchored her, willing her to not drown in her sorrowful thoughts. Because as bad that was, she thought that for the most part, what Quinn truly felt was unburdened. That it was now out in the open. That the most pressing truth she ever had to tell, had finally been told. It nearly killed her to see Finn's face crumpled into a painful mix of anger and sadness, that it almost made her want to take it all back. But now, with Rachel's comforting presence right beside her, Quinn knew she did the right thing and she didn’t want to retract anything. It was going to be hard for them for a while but she wouldn’t change anything. But god, was there a way to make this hurt  _ stop _ ?

Rachel's breath caught in surprise when Quinn's eyes whipped up to meet hers. "Can I still stay with you?" the blonde asked, her glistening hazel eyes partly making Rachel want to let out her own tears and partly making her want to hit Finn for making Quinn cry. She swallowed back her tears instead, nodding in reply.

Quinn let out a slow, shaky breath. "Get me out of here."

\---

Rachel's dads were still at work by the time the girls arrived at the Berry home but Rachel took Quinn to the guestroom straightaway where her parents had prepared the room, anticipating the blonde's stay. 

As she watched Quinn look around the room, she felt that perhaps the girl needed some space for a while, to get used to her new surroundings so Rachel told her that she was going to call her dads and let them know about what happened. She waited until Quinn silently indicated that she heard Rachel and the brunette quietly exited the room, calling her dads as soon as she was downstairs and let them know about the situation.

She hated having to leave Quinn for even a second as the blonde had been frighteningly quiet thus far and still hasn't cried on the drive from the school to Rachel's house and the brunette was concerned about the impending breakdown that she knew was going to happen. She  _ needed _ to be there for Quinn. Rachel didn’t want Quinn to think that she was going to abandon the blonde when she finally allowed the pieces fall. So Rachel promised to tell her dads everything that happened once they came home. 

After she hung up the phone, Rachel headed towards the kitchen where she thought about making her and Quinn some hot chocolate. She didn’t think that Quinn would be feeling hungry just yet but hot chocolate always made Rachel feel somewhat better whenever she was sad. She could only hope that it would have the same effect on Quinn too.

\---

Rachel knocked on the guestroom door, waiting patiently and entering when she heard a muffled "Come in."

She found Quinn lying on the bed in an attempted foetal position, her hands cradling her baby bump and Rachel's heart shattered painfully, seeing the tracks of tears already running down the blonde's pale features. Rachel cursed herself that she took too long away from the blonde. She went to put Quinn's steaming mug of hot chocolate on the bed-stand and knelt by the bed. Rachel then placed one arm on the mattress, resting her chin on her forearm as she raised her other arm to delicately brush her fingers through blonde locks. "Hey you," she whispered, smiling sadly at the blonde.

Quinn looked up from the duvet and into soft brown eyes. "Hey," she replied tearfully, her voice hoarse and scratchy.

"You okay?" the brunette asked, cringing internally because she knew what an absolutely asinine question that was and she scolded herself for speaking without thinking first.

Thankfully Quinn didn’t notice and just shook her head, sniffling as more tears fell down her face. "No," she whimpered desperately.

Rachel quickly climbed on the bed, opening her arms for Quinn to fall into, and she worried at first that Quinn might reject her comfort but was taken aback when the blonde all but scrambled forcefully on top of her, wrapping her arms around the brunette, holding on for dear life. Quinn fisted her hands in Rachel's shirt, nestling deep into the safe cocoon of the tiny girl's arms. Rachel for her part, wished that she could take all of Quinn's pain into herself, the painful lump in her throat growing with every hitched cry spilling from Quinn's lips. 

But all she could do was just brush Quinn's tears away as they fell down her cheeks and naively hoped that with every careful stroke, she was brushing Quinn's pain away too.

"I'm right here, Quinn. I'm never leaving you, okay?" Rachel softly promised, rocking Quinn back and forth, hoping the constant rhythm will sooth her. She felt the girl nod against the crook of her neck, and she consequently tightened her hold around the blonde's shaking form as she tried to hold back her own tears.

"I'll always be right here."


	8. Chapter Eight

 

It took her more than an hour before Quinn finally slept, restless, with tears still falling down her cheeks. The blonde's desperate hold on Rachel kept the brunette by her side, unwilling to let go of the only person who made her feel like she was still worth something, like she still had something good in her life. Rachel continued to brush her fingers through golden hair and she felt Quinn snuggling impossibly closer to her and she swallowed thickly at the warm breath that swept over her neck. She listened for Quinn's steady breathing, glad that the pregnant blonde was finally letting herself rest. 

When she was sure that Quinn wouldn’t wake up, it was only then that Rachel allowed her own tears to spill, trapping a loud cry in the back of her throat that was itching,  _ desperate, _ to be let out, and she took extra care to not tremble too much from her sobs, for fear of waking up the sleeping girl in her arms. Her despair came from her worry, her uneasiness with the situation. Rachel didn’t know what was going to come next, what else was going to happen that would make things just that much worse. Because intuition told her that there was something more. And for the first time in a long time, Rachel didn’t know what was the next step to take, didn’t see a clear path to resolution. 

Just a mere few hours ago, their  _ whole world _ was turned upside down when they realized their set-list had been leaked but they managed to get it back together and actually win the trophy. But then not too long after that, the world of one Finn Hudson was violently tipped over its axis when Quinn confessed that his baby was in fact, not his but his best friend's. And now Quinn was in her arms, trying to keep her guilty pieces from shattering completely. 

And Rachel cried for the blonde girl, for the helplessness she felt. Rachel prided herself on being able to overcome hard situations with logic and rationale, but this was one  _ huge _ situation with too many people involved that not even singing or "I'm Sorry" cookies could fix. She was afraid about what this truth was going to do to the club because she was sure that come Monday morning,  _ everybody _ in school would know that Puck was the father of the baby and not Finn. 

For once, she was not thinking about performing and she wasn’t thinking about how this would hinder their progress to Regionals. She  _ didn’t care _ . All she cared about were the broken hearts that surrounded them, and she just didn’t know how to make it better.

What she did know was that she was going to do everything in her power to help, everything that she could to pick up the broken pieces and bring them back together. Just so she would never, ever have to see or hear Quinn cry like this ever again.  _ Never  _ again. The singer hastily wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and she exhaled deeply, wondering if it was ever too late to take up praying to a higher power so that she would have the strength to take care of Quinn. 

She buried her nose in blonde hair and breathed in the scent of Quinn's shampoo, feeling a small sense of calm finally take over, slowly lulling her to slumber.

\---

Being the light sleeper that she was, Rachel woke up to the sound of soft knocks on the door and she slowly opened her eyes to see her papa standing in the doorway, smiling sadly at her. She remembered that the weight in her arms belonged to a certain pregnant blonde teenager who was thankfully still sleeping. 

Rachel raised a hand to push back fallen strands of blonde hair covering Quinn's face and peered down to see faint tear tracks and everything inside her wrenched with an almost brutal force as she recalled the memory of desperate cries filling her ears and sadness in hazel eyes. It made her tighten her protective hold over the blonde and she heard a contented sigh spilling from Quinn's lips as the blonde burrowed her face further into Rachel's neck.

She looked up to meet her papa's light blue eyes when she heard him clearing his throat. "We'll be waiting downstairs, sweetheart," he softly told her.

She nodded. "Okay papa."

Rachel sighed as she reluctantly disentangled herself from Quinn's stronghold much to the whimpering protests coming from the blonde. When she successfully climbed out of the bed, she watched as Quinn's eyebrows folded into a frown, her hands unconsciously trying to reach out for her. The brunette moved the pillow that she slept on, closer to the blonde and Quinn grabbed it, calming down almost instantly. Rachel tip-toed to the door and was about to turn the knob when she heard a sleepy voice calling her name. "Rachel?"

The brunette turned around to see Quinn pulling herself up to rest back on her elbows. Rachel smiled softly at her friend, "Hey you," she whispered. "Go back to sleep."

Quinn shook her head, trying to clear the sleepiness away. "Where are you going?" she asked, hating that she sounded so scared, thinking that the brunette was leaving her, and her heart agonized at the thought. She lowered her eyes down to the mattress in embarrassment.

Rachel rushed back to sit on the bed, facing the blonde, swiftly taking Quinn's hand in one hand, the other cupping the girl's cheek, coaxing sad hazel eyes to meet hers. "This isn't me leaving you, okay?" she promised. "I'm just going downstairs for a bit. My dads are here."

The blonde slowly nodded, letting Rachel's soft hand that was carefully stroking her face, pacify her anxiously racing heart. Trying to convince herself that this was Rachel, she wouldn't just  _ leave _ . Quinn sighed tiredly. "Should I come down too?"

Rachel's fingers stopped caressing Quinn's cheek as she bit down on her lower lip. "Do you want to?" she quietly asked.

The pregnant girl shook her head. "Not really." She felt Rachel squeeze her hand, felt the brunette's thumb moving over the back of her fingers in a slow, soothing rotation. "But I should be there anyway.”

"Okay." Rachel dipped her head in acceptance before taking in a deep breath. "Do you want me to go downstairs while you freshen up a little bit?"

Quinn nodded gratefully and with one last squeeze of her hand, Rachel got off the bed. "I'll see you downstairs then." She smiled reassuringly at the blonde before walking to her door and down the stairs where her parents were waiting for her in the living room. As she walked in, she found them talking quietly, leaning against each other and a reflexive smile crossed her face. It never failed to amaze her just how much her parents loved each other even after being together for so long.

Upon noticing that Rachel had entered the room, Steve stood up to greet her, "Hey sweetheart."

He took her in his arms, and he felt her small, tired body immediately melting against his and her arms wrapping tightly around his waist. He looked down to see her closed eyes and he knows that she was trying to hide her blood-shot eyes. His heart ached for his daughter and for the girl upstairs, realizing how overwhelmed they must be feeling after they had been through today. He looked over at his partner still sitting on the couch, and they shared a silent conversation, knowing that they were both vowing to make sure that they would do all they could to help Rachel with Quinn and her baby.

She gave him an affectionate smile in return. "Hi papa." She rested her head on his chest and looked down to meet her dad's brown eyes, "Hey dad."

Malachi Berry stood up to hug his family, sandwiching Rachel in between himself and Steve. "Hey Ray," he murmured, placing a fatherly kiss on her temple. His dark eyes searched hers as he gestured upwards with his head, quietly inquiring, "How is she doing?"

Rachel pulled out of her parents' embrace and shrugged, shaking her head as she went to sit on the couch by her papa. She exhaled a long, deep breath, wanting to release all the bad, negative energy out of her body. Yet she still felt her heart twisting madly when she thought of sad hazel eyes and she cradled her head in her hands.

"I don't know," she answered finally, losing herself in a daydream where this wasn’t reality and that she and Quinn were just in the auditorium having fun, hands entwined over the blonde's baby bump as they feel the baby's ardent kicks.

Steve knelt in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do you think she'll be hungry?" he asked. "Rachel?" he prodded when she didn’t answer him after a few minutes, and feeling anxious when he saw the distant look in her brown eyes. He called her name once again. 

"I don't know, papa," she snapped. Rachel recoiled guiltily at her harsh tone and she gave him a remorseful look. "I'm sorry papa. I didn't mean to bite your head off. I'm just, worried."

He nodded knowingly, accepting her apology. "It's okay, sweetheart. We understand that this is a difficult situation."

"But at least now, Quinn just needs to worry about taking care of herself and her baby," Rachel's dad interjected calmly. "Everything is out in the open now."

\---

Upstairs, Quinn was looking at her blotchy reflection in the mirror after washing her face. Her eyes glanced downwards to see a pharmacy bottle and a memory of Terri Schuester with pills in her stretched-out hand, flashed in her mind. And she remembered the deal she made with Terri, that she would give the older blonde her baby. Remembered another truth that she had been keeping from the only man who truly believed in her: Mr. Schuester. 

When she began to feel panic growing in the pit of her stomach, Quinn breathed in slowly, knowing that worry wouldn’t do her any good. She placed her hands on the sink, leaning against it to think about how she was going to tell Rachel because Quinn knew that the brunette and her parents were curious about what Quinn wanted to do with her baby.

Quinn hadn’t seen Terri in so long, not since she and Puck babysat for Terri's sister, that she honestly had forgotten about their deal. She didn’t know if Terri still wanted the baby and Quinn wrapped her arms around her bump as if to protect her baby from being taken. She let out a tired sigh because she realized that she was going to have go through another confrontation, this time with Mr. Schuester and his wife. 

She didn't know how he was going to react, finding out that the baby he thought his wife was carrying, is in fact  _ not _ a baby at all, but a padding designed to look like a baby bump. Quinn saw the parallel between her situation and Terri's, that the both of them were hiding (or Quinn's case now, hid) the truth from the supposedly important men in their lives.

She braced herself as she walked out of the bathroom, heading towards the stairs. She could hear the voices talking quietly to each other and though she felt nervous, she also felt comforted by them, knowing that these people were here to help her and that they would never turn her out. It warmed her heart and she felt her baby kicking, giving her the courage and the strength to walk down the final steps of the stairs.

It was Steve who saw her first and he rushed to her side. "Quinn," he said tenderly in greeting, gently walking her over to the couch to sit by his daughter. He observed quietly how Quinn didn’t leave very much space in between her and Rachel. "How are you doing?" he asked.

The pregnant girl rested her head against Rachel's shoulder, shyly taking the brunette's hand into hers and they shared a shy smile when Rachel automatically interlaced their fingers together. "I'm okay," Quinn murmured.

"Are you sure?" Malachi asked as he watched the blonde unconsciously finding comfort in Rachel's presence, her previously tense shoulders relaxing almost completely.

"It had to be done and I'm just relieved, more than anything," she answered truthfully, taking her head off Rachel's shoulder.

Even though there was a slight smile on her face, Steve could still see the sadness in her hazel eyes and his heart ached, feeling a need to protect her and make her happy. He knelt in front of Quinn, his blue eyes staring straight into her hazel ones, softly asking, "Do you want a drink of water or anything, sweetheart?"

Quinn bit down on the corner of her lip, remembering that she hadn't eaten since they got back from Sectionals. "I am kind of hungry, Mr. Berry," she replied shyly.

He grinned in relief, glad that she hadn’t lost her appetite and nodded, gently patted her knee and gestured towards the kitchen. "Then let's take this in there while Rachel and I make you something to eat and Mal can watch us from afar so he doesn't set anything on fire, okay?"

The pregnant girl giggled when Malachi huffed indignantly. "Okay," she replied, letting Rachel pull her up to stand before they walk out of the living room and into the kitchen together.

\---

They first talked about Sectionals and how they thwarted their rivals' plans to eliminate them in the competition, with Quinn commenting on how amazing Rachel was, singing her ballad. Nobody tried to pry and ask her about what exactly happened with Finn, not even Rachel, because they realized that what happened in that music room was between Quinn and Finn only. All they really needed to know was that Quinn told him the truth and if the blonde wanted Rachel to know what happened, Rachel trusts that Quinn would tell her in time.

There was a small lull in their conversation when Quinn blurted out, "Terri Schuester."

Rachel who was sitting next to her, frowned and tilted her head questioningly. "Mr. Schue's wife?"

"Yeah," Quinn confirmed. "It was after Puck found out that he's the father and he confronted me about it. I didn't want to face the truth that I was going to have a baby with him. And I don't know how but Terri somehow found out about me. She found me at school one day and she was saying all these things about taking the right vitamins for the baby so that she would be okay and then Terri said that if I wanted my old life back, I could just, give the baby to her," she finished, taking in a much-needed breath.

The blonde's shoulders slumped down when she heard Rachel unsuccessfully holding back a gasp and she looked down at her lap, her lips quivering as she struggled not to cry. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed and ashamed at how weak she was, angry that she was so easily swayed by a woman whose sanity seemed to always be in question. She refused to look up when she heard Rachel calling her name, knowing that if she did, she would only see disappointment in those brown eyes. 

A few moments pass and Quinn suddenly sat back in surprise when big hands covered hers and she saw Rachel's dad kneeling in front of her, his brown eyes so similar to Rachel's, looking deep into her own. He was smiling softly at her in reassurance and her breath hitched as his hands gripped hers and it felt like understanding and forgiveness. She launched herself into his arms and she let out her shameful tears, saying that she was sorry over and over again.

"Oh honey," she felt him whisper softly into her ear, before pulling back to peer up into her tear-filled eyes, "you must have been so scared, you would have probably said yes to  _ any _ opportunity."

Quinn shook her head vehemently. "I tried to give  _ my baby _ away, Mr. Berry. How does that not make me a horrible person?" she asked, the lump in her throat making it hard for her to talk without her breath catching with every few words.

Malachi gently cupped Quinn's face in his hand and for a moment it crossed her mind when Rachel would do the exact same thing, to make sure that Quinn could see the sincerity in their eyes. In a firm but gentle manner, he replied, "Because I think deep down, you thought you were doing it for the good of your baby. Somewhere inside you must have felt that you couldn't provide for her so, when somebody offered to do it for you, you took that chance. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Quinn," Rachel called out, placing a warm hand on Quinn's shoulder as Rachel's dad squeezed her hands one last time before getting up to to reclaim his seat next to his husband. This time the blonde turned to meet Rachel's eyes and was taken aback by the care and tenderness in dark brown depths. "You're not a horrible person. You're a  _ good _ person," the brunette insisted, "and something  _ huge _ happened to you and it just, overwhelmed you.  _ Nobody _ blames you, okay?"

The two girls were in a locked stare, having their own wordless conversation that neither of Rachel's parents were privy to and they waited reservedly until Quinn slowly nodded, taking Rachel's hand off her shoulder, lacing their fingers together. "Okay," she replied, squeezing the brunette's hand in a grateful gesture and felt her baby kicking when Rachel returned a beaming smile at her.

Steve broke the quiet when he thoughtfully commented, "I have to say though, that the way this woman went about this, is very suspect."

"I agree, papa," Rachel remarked, nodding contemplatively. "Wait, isn't she supposed to be pregnant?" she asked Quinn, who in turn shook her head.

"She isn't. She was never pregnant in the first place," the blonde revealed. "Tangled web, remember?" Quinn softly reminded Rachel when the brunette's eyes widened in horror.

"Quinn," Rachel whispered, staring deep into hazel eyes. "What do you want to do?"

"Mr. Schue deserves to know, doesn't he?" the blonde asked needlessly because she already knew the answer before she saw the three Berrys solemnly nodding their heads.

\---

It wasn't too long after dinner and the girls were now in the guestroom, Quinn's bedroom now, as Rachel's parents instructed them to get some rest. Both girls were lying in bed about a foot apart, lost in their own thoughts as they stared up at the ceiling in silence, connected only by their entwined hands that laid between them. The blonde let out a sigh, content for the reprieve from all the drama, happy to just be with Rachel whose thumb was stroking the back of her hand, humming quietly to herself. And Quinn found comfort in Rachel's unconscious graze, feeling the brunette's warmth and care coming through their linked hands.

"Rachel?"

The brunette shifted her stare from the plain yellow ceiling to Quinn's hazel eyes, glad to see that the sadness that had been there before was slowly fading. The questioning in her brown eyes told Quinn that she had her attention, leading the blonde to nervously ask, "Would you come with me to see Mr. Schue?" and she bit down on her lip, waiting for Rachel's answer.

"Are you sure you want me there?" Rachel asked, the surprise evident in her voice at Quinn's request.

Quinn turned her head to look back up at the ceiling. "I wished you were there with me," she confessed in a low whisper before bringing her attention back to Rachel's brown eyes, showing a naked vulnerability in her eyes. "When I was talking to Finn earlier, I wished you were there."

The brunette found herself speechless at Quinn's quiet admission, words that were further cementing the blonde's presence in her heart. She swallowed thickly as she took in flushed cheeks and open hazel eyes, wanting nothing more than to just push forward and take Quinn into a heated embrace. 

But she stopped herself, knowing that this really wasn’t the time to do so and instead Rachel moved to rest on her side to face Quinn. And she reassuringly squeezed their interlaced hands together before raising her other hand to rest on Quinn's face, carefully stroking the warm skin. Quinn closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, loving this intimate contact that had by now become a habit for Rachel to do with her.

"Do you want to go tomorrow?" the brunette softly asked when Quinn opened her eyes. "Or we can wait maybe a week, if you want," Rachel added, assuring her that there was no rush, that she could take her time until she was ready. And Quinn smiled, touched that Rachel was letting her set the pace, giving her that semblance of control that she needed.

"It's okay, Rach. We can go tomorrow," the blonde soothed. "It'll be different this time anyway."

Rachel's fingers on the blonde's face halted in their caresses as her eyebrows furrowed curiously. "Why do you say that?"

Quinn lifted her other hand to peel Rachel's hand off her cheek, her heart racing as she made the bold move to place a gentle peck on the center of the brunette's palm. Blood was pumping wildly in her ears that she didn’t hear Rachel's breath hitching and she moved her gaze back up into dark brown eyes that were waiting to hear her answer. Quinn changed her position so that her body was facing Rachel's, shifting a little forward to be closer to the brunette and to take in Rachel's familiar scent that let her know that she is home.

She took Rachel's hand and rested it back on her face before she answered with a ghost of a sweet smile on her lips, "Because I'll have you with me."

\---

It was the next day and Rachel was driving them to Mr. Schuester's place. Save for the music playing on the car stereo, both girls had been quietly thinking to themselves. Rachel was thinking about last night and the moment she shared with Quinn before she left to sleep in her own room. She couldn’t help but be proud of the progress of their friendship, that Quinn wasn’t afraid anymore of being emotionally accessible to Rachel, that Quinn was slowly letting her see and experience the  _ real  _ Quinn Fabray. 

In the corner of her eye, she could see Quinn casting a distracted gaze to the passing scenery and she thought of how, in her white dress, Quinn looked almost like a fallen angel as she was bathed in the glow of the sun. It took Rachel's breath away. She gripped the steering wheel tighter, telling herself to concentrate on the road in front of them and not on the girl next to her.

Quinn, on her part, was thinking about the same thing too, not regretting but still surprised by her own daring. She could still feel the tingling effect left on her lips from pressing against Rachel's skin. She had to remind herself to breathe as she recalled the warmth and strength in the small hand that she held in her own. She shifted in her seat, sparing a glance at the brunette driver next to her and she wondered how it managed to escape everybody, herself included, just how beautiful Rachel really was. 

She took in the long wavy chestnut locks falling over tanned shoulders, bright brown eyes and full lips that were mouthing words to a song that Quinn couldn’t hear over the blood rushing in her ears. Quinn could feel her hands were  _ itching _ to touch and so she folded them into tight fists, resting them in her lap. She forcefully closed her eyes and tried to count down in her head, calming her libido as she felt her sweetheart kicking inside her, letting her know that this  _ definitely _ wasn’t the time for that.

A few minutes went by after she opened her eyes again, when Quinn felt tired of the silence. As they passed by a few houses, she realized something. "So,  _ I _ know where Mr. Schuester lives because of Terri but, how do you know where he lives?"

The blonde was certain that she saw Rachel's whole body stiffening for a second. "Um, I've been there once before."

"Really? How come?" she asked, genuinely curious and also hoping to be distracted from the reason they were on the way to their glee club teacher's house in the first place. 

"Glee stuff," Rachel replied hastily, almost suspiciously.

Quinn quirked an eyebrow at the vague answer. "Rach, you already hound the man in school about Glee stuff. You had to go to his own personal space to bother him about that too?" she teased. She then noticed brown eyes glancing between her and the road, and it piqued her interest even more when she noticed a fiery blush rising up tanned cheeks. She smiled wickedly. "And from that shifty look on your face, I'm thinking it wasn't  _ really _ 'glee stuff' that you were there for, was it?"

"You'll laugh at me," Rachel mumbled, pouting adorably and Quinn couldn’t help but grin at the sight.

The blonde shrugged. "Probably, but I'm sure whatever it was, it wasn't as bad as what I'm thinking right now."

Rachel bit her lip nervously. "I don't know. It is  _ really _ embarrassing. I've come to think of it as one of the darkest moments in my young life."

Quinn rolled her eyes at the diva's overdramatic statement, smiling indulgently. Then she placed a comforting hand on Rachel's shoulder. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone," she promised.

When she saw Rachel slowly nod, she leaned back in her seat and the brunette took in a deep breath to brace herself, "You remember, when we had that ballad assignment and I got Mr. Schue as a partner and we sung that duet together?"

"Yeah.  _ Endless Love _ , right?"

Rachel nodded. "Right. Well, let's just say that I got a  _ little _ caught up in the overpowering sway of the ballad and I  _ might _ have developed a teeny-tiny crush on him, and I  _ might have _ snuck a peek in his personal file so I could find out his address, and when Mrs. Schuester let me in, I  _ might have _ cooked him dinner and cleaned his apartment after I asked her to show me his baby pictures," Rachel paused her ramble to breathe. "And I also  _ might  _ have given him a tie with gold stars all over it to remember me by," she finally added and she winced waiting for Quinn's reaction.

She didn’t have to wait long when she heard an unladylike snort coming from the blonde, that came before a slew of tiny giggles, that then escalated into full-fledged laughter. And even though Rachel loved hearing and seeing Quinn being so gleeful that she was sure that Quinn was actually  _ crying _ with merriment, Rachel huffed and pouted that it was at her expense. "I  _ told  _ you that you'd laugh at me," she whined.

It took a few more minutes before Quinn could actually control herself and form a coherent sentence. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. "Rach, you had a crush on our  _ Glee teacher _ . If  _ that's _ not worthy of a full-belly laugh and a  _ lifetime _ of mocking you, I don't know what is. Feel this," she demanded, taking Rachel's right hand and placing it on her stomach and they both felt the raucous kicking under their palms. "Even  _ the baby _ is laughing at her silly Rachel."

Rachel couldn’t help but bear a goofy grin even though she was the one being teased. And really, she could see the humor in the situation itself. She just couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by her lapse in judgment. "I'm so glad I could provide you both with so much entertainment," she grumbled petulantly as she turned the corner nearing Mr. Schuester's place. Both girls turned quiet when the house is in sight.

"I'm sorry, Rachel."

The brunette smiled reassuringly, waving off her apology. "There's no need for that, Quinn. I can understand from an objective point of view, how my harboring a borderline creepy crush on Mr. Schue tcould be seen as amusi-"

The pregnant girl shook her head, though she smiled in return because really, Rachel having a crush on Mr. Schue? Would  _ never _ stop tickling her funny bone.  _ Ever _ . But she stopped herself from starting another giggling fit because she was sorry about something else. Something that she knew was on Rachel's mind last night when she told the Berrys about Terri and really, most likely on Rachel's mind now that they were practically parked outside Mr. Schuester's home. 

"No, I mean, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my deal with Mrs. Schuester before last night," she explained, looking down as her fingers fidgeted nervously in her lap.

Quinn felt the car came to a stop and heard Rachel quietly replying. "Oh."

After a moment of tense silence and trying to avoid looking at the brunette, Quinn fought back a surprised gasp when Rachel's hand enveloped hers and she looked up to see smiling brown eyes. "You  _ definitely _ do not need to apologize about that either, Quinn. I'm okay, I promise." Rachel squeezed the blonde's hand in hers to reassure her before unbuckling her seat belt and getting out of the car. 

Quinn did the same and waited for Rachel to walk around the car before they walked towards the house together. Rachel grabbed Quinn's hand again, trying to get her attention and the blonde looked down at her friend. "She didn't try to hurt you or anything while you had this deal, did she?" Rachel quietly asks. Her dark eyes narrowed into a hard, angry glare, feeling a wave of protectiveness for the blonde crashing over her.

The blonde shook her head, squeezing Rachel's hand and it abated the brunette's anger somewhat. "No, she just gave me prenatal vitamins and just said some really weird things," the blonde replied, her eyebrows knitting together as she recollected the time Terri said something about how it was good she went through so much morning sickness because that meant the baby wasn’t a Mongoloid.

And all too soon, they found themselves standing in front of the Schuesters' front door, and Rachel had her finger poised to ring the doorbell. She looked at the blonde whose heart was l starting to beat faster with anxiety and fear. "Ready?" the brunette asked her as she pressed the doorbell.

"No," the blonde whimpered. She then took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders, bracing herself. They heard the bell ringing and they waited for a minute of tense silence when somebody finally came to open the door.

\---

Will opened his front door, a look of confusion on his face when he saw his two students standing in front of him. “Girls? What are you doing here?” he asked, wariness lacing his tone at seeing Rachel Berry at his home again but let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that Quinn Fabray was also standing beside her. The pregnant girl looked more like she would rather be anywhere else than here while Rachel just had her patented look of determination written across her face. The very same look that usually didn’t spell anything good for him. 

The small brunette gave him her brightest smile, her exuberance hiding the anxiety she was feeling about what they were about to do. Not so shockingly to Mr. Schuester, she took the lead and nonchalantly greeted him. “Hey Mr. Schue. Is Mrs. Schuester home?”

His curious frown deepened, wondering why they were looking for his wife. “Terri? Uh no, but she should be back from the store in a few minutes.” He watched as Rachel looked at Quinn, a question in her brown eyes and the blonde answered with a firm nod.

Rachel turned back to him with a shy smile. “Is it okay if we wait until she gets back?”

He nodded unsurely, standing to the side to give them room to come inside. “Sure, but I thought you two would be out celebrating your win at Sectionals with the rest of the kids.”

“Oh, uh, we were. I mean, we are. I mean, we will!” Rachel stammered in a frenzied panic, her nerves getting the best of her. She bit down on her tongue, stopping before she made an even bigger fool of herself as she tried to get a hold of her words. “But we have  _ much _ pressing matters to deal with right now.”

He gave them an indulgent smile, thinking that maybe Quinn had some pregnancy questions for Terri again. “Rachel, I'm sure that whatever it is, can wait another day. You should go and be kids and just have fun. Go bowling or something,” he told them, waving his hands as if to shoo them away.

“We will take that suggestion into consideration, thank you, Mr. Schue. But,” Rachel smiled at him, picking up Quinn's hand in hers, “we kind of want to deal with this first.”

Will peered down in time to see Quinn effortlessly weaving her pale fingers with tanned ones and not for the first time found himself wanting to know how this friendship formed in the first place and just how it got to this point where neither girl seemed to notice the sheer amount of physical intimacy that they were showing to the world. He shrugged his shoulders in resignation, gesturing for them to take a seat in the living room before going over to stand in the doorway leading to the kitchen. “Okay, fine. I'm going to go and make some coffee. Do you girls want a drink or anything while you wait?”

“May I have a glass of water?” Quinn asked politely. Will smiled as he nodded before turning to go into the kitchen. A minute or two passed before he returned with the drink that she requested. “Thank you, Mr. Schue.”

Their heads whipped up when they heard the sound of keys and the front door opening. “Will, I'm home.”

“We're in here,” Will yelled out, not noticing the apprehensive look that the two girls were sharing, knowing that it was time to face the music.

“We? Who's we?” Terri asked as she walked in, rummaging for something in her handbag. Both Rachel and Quinn stood up when they saw the older blonde, and the small brunette frowned at the sight of Terri's baby bump that she now knew wasn’t real. 

Terri looked up and her blue eyes widened at the sight of the two teenagers standing in her living room, more than surprised to see Quinn standing in front of her. It had only been a month since she had seen the younger girl, since Quinn had told her that she would give the baby over to her and Will. The same emotions instantly went through when she saw Quinn; sorrow for the baby she thought she had and regret for lying to the man she loved. 

But like always, she pushed through it all, did everything and anything she can, knowing that  _ he _ was the reason she was doing this; that with this baby she would achieve goal where Will would m learn to fall in love with her again. So she didn’t see the effect of her deal with Quinn as a negative thing, didn’t see what the lie could do to the younger girl, and she didn’t let herself see any of it. Because this was for her and for Will, what else mattered?

Quinn was the first to greet the older woman, her voice trembling as she felt a bubble of nerves growing inside her. “Hi Mrs. Schuester.”

“Hello Quinn.” Her gaze lowered to Quinn Fabray's swollen belly and she instinctively touched her padding, feeling again that ache inside her for the baby she never had. “And Rachel, hello again.” She gave the small brunette a discerning smirk, as if she wasn’t surprised to see Rachel again.

Rachel blushed, flustered by the older woman's assuming look and nudged Quinn with her elbow when she heard the blonde snickering but managed to politely greet her in return. “Hello Mrs. Schuester. Now that you're here, I guess we can start with the reason that we're here. Quinn has something to say.”

Both adults turned to look at Quinn whose mocking smile dropped along with her heart at the expectant look on both their faces. She sucked in a deep breath. “Finn isn't the father of my baby.” Anticipating the next question, she quickly answered, “Puck is.”

Out of all the things that Will expected Quinn to say, that was definitely not one of them. His eyes were wide in shock as he spluttered around, trying to think of what to say. “Quinn, have you uh, told Finn about this?”

Quinn nodded. “Yesterday. After Sectionals.”

In a shocked daze, Will stumbled over to take a seat, bowled over by the truth. He feels his heart clutching painfully for his kids, that they have been forced to grow up and deal with a situation that is beyond what they can actually be ready to deal with. He ran his fingers through his curly hair, cradling his head in his hands. He peered up to see Quinn with hazel eyes full of fear and Rachel looking ready to either comfort the blonde or take her away from here. He shifted himself to move a little closer to the pregnant blonde, realizing that she was afraid of him judging her for lying to everybody, worried that he was disappointed in her. 

When she turned away from his gaze, he carefully picked up her hand. “Quinn, listen to me. I know that while it was probably really hard for Finn to hear but I'm sure that it must have been just as hard for you too, Quinn.” She looked back at him when his voice turned soft and she thought that the smile he gave her was almost proud. “It takes a lot of guts to tell the truth, Quinn. And yes, it will probably take awhile but I'm sure that Finn will eventually realize that you did the right thing by him.”

“Thank you, Mr. Schue.” The young blonde gave him a small grateful and relieved smile. She sighed. “But, there is more.”

Will frowns. “More?”

“Yes. I just don't want there to be any more lies surrounding this baby. You see, Mr. Schue, I-”

Without warning, Terri shot up, interrupting Quinn's next words and grabbed the younger girl's arm, pulling her up to stand. She put on her sweetest smile for Will, using her most saccharine voice, “Darling, is it alright if I talk to Quinn for just a few minutes? You know, pregnant girl talk. You should show Rachel some more of your baby pictures,” she ramblesd off as she practically manhandled Quinn into the hallway, so intent on getting her out that she didn’t notice Quinn shaking her head at Rachel to stop the smaller brunette from getting up and coming with them.

“What do you think you're doing, little girl?” Terri asked in a harsh whisper, her lips curling into a sneer while her hand held onto Quinn's arm in a tight, forceful grip.

Quinn felt her hackles rising up at being called a 'little girl' and she snatched her arm away from Terri's grappling hold, growling under her breath. “I'm  _ trying _ to tell your husband the truth.”

Pure, cold fear trickled up and down Terri's spine, and she could actually hear a clock begin to tick in her head telling her that her time was almost up. She felt a great amount of displeasure towards Quinn for going back on her word and she chose to focus on that, choosing to react; to retaliate with anger and indignation by channeling her old head cheerleader mentality. “Now why would you go and do a  _ stupid _ thing like that?” she hissed, stepping forward to intimidate the younger blonde, forgetting that she was facing off with another former head cheerleader.

Quinn stayed in her spot, refusing to be scared off, emboldened by the knowledge that she was doing the right thing. “Because, he deserves to know the truth. I can't go on lying to him, seeing him at school and knowing that the baby he thinks he has and knowing that it doesn't actually exist. It is just too much stress for me and my baby.”

Terri gave her an incredulous look. “So this is why you're doing this? You couldn't handle the  _ stress _ ? I could have gotten you the pills for that!” she exclaimed.

The pregnant girl crossed her arms and scoffed. “I don't want  _ pills _ . I  _ want _ to be free of you and this  _ stupid _ deal. I  _ want _ to be free of all the  _ lies _ !” she spat out, no longer caring that she wasb’t whispering. “Mr. Schuester has to know just what kind of person he chose to marry. Don't you think he  _ deserves _ to know?”

“What kind of person  _ did _ I marry?”

Both women pulled back from each other, shocked by the intruding question. They saw Will standing not too far away from them with an impatient look on his face, and Rachel was beside him with her small hand on his arm as if she had been trying to keep him back. Terri was the first to react, “Will! Quinn and I were just-”

He interrupted her, vigorously shaking his head. “No, I want to hear what Quinn had to say. Something that I  _ apparently _ deserve to know.”

At the same time, Rachel rushed over to Quinn, leaning in to frantically whisper, “I'm sorry, I tried to keep him distracted but we could sort of hear you guys and he wanted to know what was going on and I couldn't-”

The pregnant girl placed a warm hand on the brunette's arm, stopping her rambling apologies. “Rach, it's okay,” She gave her a small reassuring smile, indicating that no harm had been done to her. She slid her hand down Rachel's arm to envelop the girl's small hand in hers and instantly felt her panic receding.

“Terri?”

Quinn looked up, meeting the older woman's frantically pleading blue eyes and guilt shot through her, knowing exactly what Terri was feeling right now. Quinn knew the difficult position Terri was in right now, between wanting to keep lying and not really knowing how long it would last or take the chance to tell the truth knowing she would lose everything. “I'm really sorry, Mrs. Schuester. But if you love him like you say you do, you’ll tell him.  _ Show _ him. You know that he would have found out some other way.” 

Terri looked in between Will and Quinn, and she knew that she could m either opt to do this now, to take control and the risk now, or wair and let the risk come later. And though the latter option seemed easiest, she knew that it really wasn’t the right one. The terror in her eyes faded into resignation and defeat as she made her decision. She looked down to the floor, and with a broken voice she whispered, “I'm so sorry, Will.”

“Sorry about wha-” he paused when she lifted the hem of her shirt and took out what looked like a skin-colored pillow. His eyes widened in horror as she shamefully held it up in her hand, thrusting it towards him. “What- What is that? Terri, where's the baby?” He stared at his wife as she guiltily shook her head, her eyes misting over with tears. He looked down at her stomach, her  _ flat _ stomach. “But the sonogram...”

“It was a DVD,” she revealed, her voice wavering with unshed tears.

“Whose?” Terri pointedly looked at Quinn and he followed her gaze to the pregnant girl. His eyes lowering to the baby bump that was being cradled by her mother, the unsaid truth hitting him just as hard as the first. He gasped in disbelief. “My god, Terri. You were just going to  _ steal _ this girl's baby?” he asked, not even bothering to hide the disgust and horror that he felt towards his wife's actions.

“She  _ wanted _ to give her baby away!” she screeched defensively. Terri could feel herself trying to keep a hold on the edge of this very slippery slope but she was losing control, losing Will.

“What were you  _ thinking _ ?” he yelled back at her, a growl burning deep and low in his chest.

Terri shook her head, willing herself to not be affected by Will's rancor. With an air of indifference, she let out a hollow laugh, choosing right there and then to tell her husband the bitter truth. “Do you know what it's like, William, to watch the person you love slowly leaving you? What it's like to know that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it? And then to know that the spark in their eyes that used to be just for you, wasn't for  _ you _ anymore but for their  _ precious _ little club?”

Will groaned, more than irritated that Terri was bringing up his commitment to the club again and still not understanding why she had such a problem with it. “Are you  _ kidding _ me right now? I  _ told _ you that those kids are important to me.”

“More important than  _ me _ ? Your  _ wife _ ?” she countered, expecting him to rebuke immediately. But she was taken aback when Will only looked at her with his mouth open and no words of reassurance were spilling from his lips. His obvious hesitance to respond to her allegation struck her hard like an anvil thrown at her gut, leaving her breathless with tears ready and waiting to fall.

He wanted to apologize and say that yes, she was important to him. But something seemed to be stopping him from doing so. “I- I don't even know what to say, Terri,” he stuttered in reply. “Why would you do this to us?” he asked, begging for an answer, wanting to know why the person he thought he knew could do such a thing like this.

Terri knew that she was fighting a losing battle but she still tried to appeal to him, appeal to his heart, hoping to remind him of their love for each other. “I did it for  _ us _ . I couldn't  _ lose _ you, Will. I don't know what I would do without you.”

But her words came too late. The hurt and sadness that had been wrenching at Will's heart since this conversation had begun, had been taken over by rage and hatred. Feelings that he had only ever felt in huge amounts for Sue Sylvester but never Terri. Maybe he had felt small amounts of resentment towards his wife whenever she put him down or complained about the club, but it had never been this much ire. 

His eyes were finally open and he saw who Terri truly was, and the horrific way that she had been treating him, taking every opportunity to make him feel small about himself, and disguising it as love. How did he not see this? Will looked into Terri's big blue eyes, saw her beautiful face and he tried to recall the way he loved her, trying to remember the time when he could just look at her and he would feel like she was his home, like she was his family. But he coildn’t. Any love he had inside was being pushed out by so much pain and all he wanted was to hurt her like she had hurt him.

“You should have thought of that before you  _ lied _ to me. How am I even supposed to trust you after this? Goddamn it Terri!” he shouted in frustration, and without thinking, he punched the wall closest to him, letting out the rest of his anger. The three women winced in sympathy when they saw his look of pain after the resounding crack of the plaster giving way to a forceful fist.

Terri stepped back, more out of an instinct of survival rather than real fear that William would hit her. She knew he wouldn't but she couldn't help it when her feet moved back. She looked at him, his mouth puffing and his nose flaring as he tried to catch his breath, trying to reel back from showing too much and she saw the glistening outrage in his eyes, all the emotions that he had been building up for so long, especially the resentment she knew that he sometimes felt towards her. And she knew that she had truly lost him. 

“Do you hate me now, Will? Are you going to leave me now?” she asked in a small, defeated voice. 

All the fight left in him drained out of his body and his shoulders slumped down, tired and exhausted by all of this. Husband and wife stared at each other, trying to find the answer in eyes that had seen and loved through the years of togetherness. Both too scared to notice that they were finding nothing that reminded them of love.

Rachel shook her head, abruptly pulled her attention from the spectacle in front of them, having forgotten that she shouldn't be privy to this and she realized that the two adults in the room had forgotten that she was still here, watching them. And she  _ shouldn't _ be here, shouldn't be so engrossed in a situation that was none of her business whatsoever. She leaned next to Quinn, who was still watching the scene with the same rapt attention like an accident happening and you just couldn’t tear your eyes away. In a hushed tone, she tells her, “We should go.” 

Quinn's hazel eyes blinked slowly as if she was suddenly remembering that this was real life, that what they were seeing was happening to somebody they know. She spared one last glance at the broken, desperate look on Terri's face and the one on Mr. Schuester's, torn between being angry and pained; Quinn guiltily looked away to see Rachel's questioning brown eyes and nodded to agree.

The two girls quietly snuck out of the living room, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Schuester as they were, still staring at each other, both at a standstill. And as they closed the front door, they could hear Mr. Schuester finally replying Terri's question in a soft, soul-shattering whisper, “I don't know.”

\---

Not a word had been said between the two teenagers since they walked out of the Schuester home. Not even after they get into the car and Rachel started the engine. Not even when Rachel finally pressed on the gas to drive away, far away from the house where two hearts were currently breaking. It wasn’t until the house stopped being visible in her rear-view mirror, that Rachel glanced over at the quiet blonde and softly asked, “You okay?”

Quinn looked over at Rachel who still had a bewildered look on her face, and shrugged, sighing deeply. “Yeah, that was just, kind of intense.” Rachel nodded, having felt the same thing. “Do you think they'll be okay?”

The brunette shook her head, not really wanting to say anything definite. “I don't know.” 

She didn’t know how Mr. Schuester was going to come back from something like this. To be betrayed by the one you loved, by the one that vowed to love you, by the one who made a commitment to you. Even Rachel didn’t know what she would do if she were in his shoes. And Mrs. Schuester looked so scared and beaten down like she knew she had already lost that Rachel couldn’t help but feel her heart clench in sadness for the older woman. 

Rachel let out an uneasy breath. “How are you feeling though? Overall, I mean, now that everything is finally out in the open.”

“Overall? I feel free. Guilty for what Mr. Schue is going through but I'm free.” 

And it was true. Even though the results of telling the truth had been chaos and so many broken hearts, ultimately, Quinn felt  _ free _ . Because now, there was nothing holding her back from moving on; now, she could just  _ be _ , without having to worry about when the ball was going to drop next. It was at the next stop light that Rachel turned to smile at her and she responddd with her own. 

Everything wasn’t completely okay yet but with Rachel and her baby, it sure seemed like it was, at least for now.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this one a little earlier than usual because it's a 10k chapter and Chapter 10 is also a 10k chapter so it's taking a little bit more time to edit that one, but no worries, it should be up before the weekend is over, :).

When Monday came, Quinn decided that since it was now all out in the open, it was time to let the Glee club in the know. Even though she was more than certain that they all already knew. 

Once she told them that Puck was the father, apart from Rachel, Puck, Brittany and Santana, a round of over-exaggerated gasps echoed around the room. Quinn couldn't hold back a laugh at their enthusiastic effort to deny that they hadn’t known the truth all along. “Thank you for pretending for my benefit, but you really didn't have to do that. I know you guys know,” she told them, noticing the guilty looks on their faces. “It's okay really. I'm just telling you now because at least now, it's official.”

“That's why Finn hasn't graced us with his presence, isn't it?” Kurt asked, a sad look across his delicate features.

Quinn turned to him. She knew that Kurt had a crush on her former boyfriend and that he probably felt just as guilty for keeping this secret from Finn. Just like she knew that while Rachel willingly waited for her to tell Finn, the brunette still felt bad for keeping something from somebody she considered to be her first friend ever. Quinn knew it was going to take a long time before she could truly make it up to Rachel, to all of them, but she was sure as hell going to try. 

She nodded. “I think he is going to need some time.”

“We're here for you both. Whatever you guys need,” Artie said quietly, a promise in his dark blue eyes, and the rest of the group nodded, mumbling their agreement as well.

And it touched Quinn that this group of people would so gladly be there for her when she used to be part of another group of people that tortured and insulted them on a daily basis. And here they were, offering their friendship and support to her, to Puck, whose dark hazel eyes were glistening from the show of comeraderie. Quinn smiled gratefully through her tears and she shared a happy look with Rachel who was beaming proudly at her.

\---

By Thursday afternoon, news had spread and everybody in McKinley High knew that Puck, and not Finn, was the father of Quinn's baby. The pregnant girl expected the disgusted, judgmental looks on all her peers' faces, only finding comfort in Rachel's presence by her side as they walked with their heads high through the school hallway. She drew strength from Rachel's hand in hers and the warm, proud smile that she willingly gave her. They were enough to get Quinn through the day. 

Knowing that she had Rachel, and even Brittany and Santana with her, made things all the more bearable. Even Puck had been there for her, giving her the baby books that his mother helped him buy and even the money that he had so far earned from his pool cleaning business. 

The only thing really bringing her down was Finn, who alternated between looking like he was in so much pain that he was going to break down crying, and looking like he wanted to break even more things. Puck told her that he had followed Finn to some abandoned lot where he took out a baseball bat and started breaking everything in sight, and screaming like a hellion while he was doing it. 

Quinn didn't think that the guilt from lying to Finn would ever go away, and she was fine with that. She deserved to feel it because it served as a cold reminder of how twisted lies inevitably came out and hurt the ones you cared about, and she swore to herself that she would never do that ever again. 

\---

It was the end of the school day and Rachel was clearing out her locker to bring the books she needed for her homework assignments. Quinn was waiting for her in the music room so that she could get in some time to practise as Mr. Schuester had cancelled Glee rehearsals for the week. Both she and Quinn were glad that nobody thought to ask them whether they knew why. They were certain that Mr. Schue was most likely taking his own break from everything and everyone, just like Finn had been.

Despite the looks that Quinn had been getting, the week was incident-free and Rachel was glad for that. Now she just wanted to get to Quinn, practise for an hour or so and then go home together.

She closed her locker door and Rachel gasped in surprise when she saw a shadow looming over her. She turned around to see Finn staring down at her. It was the closest that they had been since Friday last week. The smaller girl swallowed thickly, realizing how intimidating Finn could be when he didn’t have his usual dopey grin plastered on his face and he was close enough to tower over her that her neck actually hurt from looking up. 

She could still feel the residual anger and pain coming off him in waves and she wondered if their friendship could ever be salvaged after this. She knew from the venomous looks that he had been giving her this past week that he wasn’t happy with her for keeping such a huge secret from him. She wanted to approach him, wanted to tell him that she was there for him but seeing those looks coming from him made her shrink, made her run away from even trying.

As Finn stood there in front of Rachel, he tried to rein in his feelings, keeping them from being unleashed onto her. He had thought that given a few days, they would have tapered down by now, but being in her vicinity, just looking at her right now, reminded him of Quinn and Puck, and all the lies that he foolishly accepted as truth. Finn hadn’t spoken to anybody about this whole mess. Nobody. He even tried to sing about it, but even that made him think of Rachel and then he was right back where he started. 

And the thing was, the one person he could have gone to, was the one person that wasn’t available to him. He thought about how much closer the Rachel and Quinn seemed to be now that the truth was out. Finn had seen them walking around the school, together, so calm and so happy. Like they were in their own little bubble, oblivious to everybody else walking around them.

He took another step closer to Rachel until there was only barely a few inches between and she gasped out again. “Finn-”

“You knew,” his voice quiet and  _ terrifying _ in its calm.  _ She knew _ . Those two words had spun around in his head since the moment he saw her looking through the glass window into the music room. Since the moment he saw that her eyes were worriedly focused on Quinn and not him. She  _ knew _ , and she didn't tell him. And his heart impossibly shattered even more at the shameful guilt in dark brown eyes that he himself had come to love.

Rachel's mouth clamped shut and she shook her head. She turned her head away to avoid his blood-shot eyes, looking around the hallway and saw that there was nobody else to witness this heartbreaking scene. “Yes. I did,” she whispered, hanging her head down in shame.  

Finn chuckled bitterly, and it was a dagger stabbing her heart at the hollow sound. “You know, of all the people that I thought would lie and keep such a huge secret that they  _ knew _ would hurt me, I never would have even  _ considered _ that you'd be on that list.”

Rachel understood that by being loyal to Quinn and by extension, Puck, that by not spilling their secret, she betrayed her loyalty to Finn. And it hurt her, knowing that she was a part of his pain but ultimately Rachel  _ knew  _ she did the right thing by giving Quinn the chance to tell him. “It wasn't my secret to tell, Finn. Both Quinn and Noah wanted to tell you but they were afraid of losing you. I  _ promised _ that I would let her tell you.”

He scoffed in disbelief. “And that makes it  _ okay _ ?”

Rachel didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to tell him that yes, it was okay because it was never her secret to tell. Didn’t know how to tell him that no, it wasn’t okay because in the end, he was the one that got hurt. She knew that by choosing to not tell him, it meant that she chose Quinn. “I understand that it hurts, but you need to tell them that you don't hate them,” she gently begged.

They both seemed to understand at the same time that Rachel was asking him to tell her that he didn’t hate  _ her _ . And god, he really, really didn’t. But he couldn’t get the ache to stop and he was mixed up between wanting her to help him heal and for her to just get out of his life. He hated seeing her beautiful face looking so pathetically sad, to see her bottom lip protruding as she tried to not cry in front of him. He hated even more that he liked seeing it, knowing that he was making her feel what was probably the smallest fraction of what he was feeling. 

He hated it all.

“No!” he roared, his face reddening from the rush of fury inside him. “I  _ can't _ get the image of them, together,  _ out _ of my head. Every time I  _ see _ them in my mind, I just feel this insane  _ rage _ inside and it scares me to  _ death _ because they are supposed to be people I love most in the world. And I want nothing more than to  _ crush _ them to pieces. No, I am  _ done _ with them.”

“They are  _ dead _ to me,” he finished, the hardness in his brown eyes sending chills down Rachel's spine.

She shook her head, refusing to believe what he was saying. “You don't mean that. Finn, I know you. I  _ know _ that you're just hurt and you're angry that they didn't tell you. That doesn't mean you don't care.”

Finn scoffed, looking away from the beseeching brown eyes in front of him. “Then maybe you don't know me as well you think.” With those last words, Finn turned to walk away from her.

Instead of feeling hurt at the apparent dismissal, Rachel felt angrily offended.  _ Nobody _ dismissed Rachel Berry. “Hey! Don’t punish me just because  _ you're _ confused about being torn between feeling embarrassed and angry about what  _ they _ did to you.”

“Don't!” Finn bellowed in warning, as he punched the locker next to him making Rachel jump back in surprise. Finn hated that she was right. Hated that she knew him so well because he  _ was  _ confused and he felt so  _ humiliated _ , because they were  _ supposed _ to be the people that he could trust most in the world, but instead they betrayed him. And he hated that  _ she _ was a part of that.

The sound of the loud bang and the sight of the locker giving way to his clenched fist left Rachel with a feeling of cold dread. Her eyes were wide with fear even though she was certain that Finn wouldn't hurt her. She stood her ground when he begab to stomp back towards her, swallowing fearfully as she was too frozen to move from where she stood. 

He stopped a few feet away from her. “ _ Don't _ assume to know what I'm  _ feeling _ , Rachel. You  _ don't know _ ,” he warned.

“Then  _ talk _ to me, Finn,” she implored, hoping that if she could just get him to talk, maybe to even listen to what she had to say, they could start fixing what had been broken between all of them.

Finn saw that even though Rachel was reaching out to him, his actions had been scaring her. Her brown eyes were darting around the hallway, and he knew she was trying to remember where the exit was. He closed his eyes and made himself do those breathing exercises that Rachel taught him a few months ago. He didn’t want to scare Rachel but god, it was just so easy to be angry, to  _ stay _ angry. “Why do you care so much about them? What do you get out of this?” he calmly asked her, genuinely interested in why she was suddenly okay with being friends with people who basically tortured her for most of her high school career.

Rachel frowned, wondering what Finn was trying to imply. “I get nothing. They are my friends, just like you are. I just want everybody to get along.”

“You were  _ my _ friend first. How could you pick  _ their _ side?” He knew he was being immature and childish as he said it, but Finn really didn’t care. He just wanted to understand why Rachel wasn’t in  _ his _ corner.

“I'm not picking  _ anybody's _ side, Finn. I promise you that I'm not. It's just that, I've seen how sorry they are for what they did to you, especially Quinn. They already feel so unbelievably guilty.”

Hearing Quinn's name didn’t help. The very mention of 'them' just shot a bolt of madness through him and he thought belatedly that this might just be too much, too soon. That maybe he should have taken more time before talking to Rachel. But he was here now and couldn’t stop. “Good,” he gritted out, trying to keep his turbulent emotions at bay.

Rachel shook her head, not wanting to believe that Finn was actually glad to know that somebody else was suffering. “Don't be like that. This isn't  _ you _ ,” she claimed, desperate to get through to him.

Another flare of anger and hate rose inside and this time Finn didn’t stop it from taking over his senses. He forgot that this was Rachel. Forgot everything except the hurt swirling inside him. “Then you all should have thought twice about  _ lying _ to me and making me look like an  _ idiot _ !” he roared. With every word that he emphasized, his fist swung forcefully to punch the locker next to him. Finn took the few steps towards Rachel to close in on her, drowning in his red haze. His arms are rising, reaching out to the smaller brunette. And once again, Rachel found herself not moving. She  _ couldn’t _ move. Her brain was telling her,  _ screaming _ at her to move back, to put more distance between them. But her feet didn’t respond. They stayed stuck in their place and Rachel shut her eyes, helpless as her body trembled, anticipating a blow.

“I'd back the  _ fuck _ away from her right now if I were you, Shrek.”

At the sound of Santana's voice, Finn froze mid-step and his arms fell back down. Both he and Rachel looked to the side and they saw Santana standing formidably in her Cheerio uniform, her arms crossed with the most thunderous glare that Rachel had ever seen on the cheerleader's face. She had been so wrapped up in her apprehension while Finn had been lost in his ferocity, that they didn't notice when Santana stormed up to them.

“This is none of your business, Santana,” Finn spat out, the redness in his face slowly fading at her sudden intrusion.

The Cheerio scoffed, letting them know that whether it was her business or not, she wasn’t going to leave. “I don't care if it is, or if it isn't. What I do care about right now is that you need to back  _ the hell _ up from her this  _ very second _ before I get all up in your face,” she threatened, quirking an eyebrow at him as she straightened her aggressive stance to show she really was not kidding around.

Rachel's eyes glanced nervously between the cheerleader and the tall boy in front of her. “Santana, it's okay. Finn wouldn't hurt me,” she interjected, hoping to extinguish the hostility that was currently being exchanged between them.

“Berry, shut the hell up if you know what's good for you,” Santana snapped, her eyes maneuvering to focus her glare on the smaller brunette and Rachel's obediently clamped her mouth shut. The Cheerio shifted her narrow-eyed stare back up to Finn. “Look Frankenteen, we get it.  _ They _ hurt you.  _ You're _ pissed off. Now you want to hurt them back. Blah, blah, blah.  _ Don't _ take it out on Berry who is  _ only _ being her annoying goody-two-shoe self and wanting all of us to stay friends.”

Rachel rolled her eyes at Santana's words, marveling at how the Cheerio managed to insult her at a time like this. But still, she couldn’t help but be grateful that Santana was here at all as she felt her fear slowly draining away.

“That's  _ never _ going to happen,” Finn replied, unwilling to grant anybody absolution. They didn’t deserve to be forgiven and he was not about to give them that satisfaction.

Santana rolled her eyes, already more than exhausted by this conversation that was going  _ nowhere _ . “Then  _ go _ ,” she growled impatiently. “We don't need your drama because we  _ already _ have a hormonal pregnant teenager who can't stop crying and a drama queen who doesn't know when to shut up, on our hands. We don't need to add an angry giant hell-bent on avenging his poor little butt-hurt feelings.”

Finn clenched his jaw, telling himself over and over again to not react. “ _ Shut up _ , Santana.”

“Or what? You'll  _ hit me _ ?” She shoved him away from Rachel, shocking him when she bumped her chest against his, and he had to retreat so he wouldn't fall. “Come on, big guy. Hit me. I don't care. You obviously can't hit Quinn. And for whatever reason, you couldn't hit Puck when you had the chance. And you're so big, you probably can't even reach down to hit Berry anyway. So come on,” Santana extended her arms to leave herself open and waiting for a strike, “hit me.”

“Santana-”

“Leave it alone, Berry,” the Cheerio warned, keeping her brown eyes on Finn's confused ones. She plastered on a fearless smirk, and it grew when she saw just how much it annoyed the boy to see it. “So what are you going to do, Finn? You going to hit me, or are you going to be a man?”

A tense silence settled in between the three of them. Finn looked from Rachel to Santana. and he felt the Cheerio's dark eyes burning him with their intensity. The anger was still there but he looked at Rachel with regret, taking note of her frightened brown eyes. Rachel couldn't hide how much more at ease she was since Santana arrived on the scene.  _ He _ put that fear in there.  _ He _ was the reason that Rachel needed somebody to protect her, from  _ him _ .

Both girls loosened themselves in relief when he swiftly turned around and walked off through the hallway to the school exit. “Berry, next time you want to talk to that doofus, make sure you're not alone.”

“He wasn't going to hurt me, Santana,” Rachel defended, and the taller brunette gave her a dubious look, both knowing that she didn't fully believe what she was saying. Rachel understood that what happened with Finn could have gone wrong in so many different ways, that Santana's interruption distracted Finn's focus away from Rachel. She knew that Finn could have easily called Santana's bluff and actually hurt her. And Rachel was more than glad that Finn had enough sense to walk away. She resolved to give Finn more time before speaking to him again. She approached the cheerleader, placing a tentative hand on her arm. “Thank you, Santana.” Rachel gave her a small grateful smile, thanking her for coming when she did.

The taller brunette's lip twitched up slightly and slid back down into a straight line. “Whatever,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “Q was full-on hyperventilating about where you were 'cause you weren't in the choir room where you told her you would be. I told her that I'd look for you 'cause I didn't want her to pop the kid out just because she can't find your midget self,” Santana smirked as she explained why she was there in the first place.

Rachel chuckled, more amused than offended. “You really are a true friend, Santana.” She thought that maybe, she was finally beginning to understand Santana and her deceptively prickly ways.

“Yeah yeah, I'm a peach.” Santana rolled her eyes, and waved Rachel off. “Go and calm your woman down. She said she was going to walk around and that you'd know where to find her, whatever that means.” Santana shrugged then grinned wickedly. “I'm going to go find  _ my _ woman.”

“Tell Brittany to call me later.” At Santana's nod, Rachel grinned, watching the Cheerio strut away from her before she went off in search for her own favorite blonde.

\---

Quinn leaned back against the backstage wall, taking in a deep breath before closing her eyes. It had been such a long day and she just wanted to go to bed and have somebody give her a foot massage because it  _ really _ hurt to stand for too long anymore. She thought back to the very first time she was here, just a pregnant girl looking for a place to hide from everybody, heavily burdened and feeling more alone than she had ever felt in her life and now here she was, still pregnant but free from all the lies with good,  _ true _ friends who were willing to be there for her every step of the way. With them beside her, she could truly move forward.

She heard the sound of shoes making their way up the auditorium stage and her baby began to kick, letting her know that Rachel was near. It still surprised her that her little one seemed to just  _ know _ when the brunette was anywhere in their proximity. She grinned adoringly down at her swollen belly, daydreaming of sparkling hazel eyes and a toothless but charming smile. She gave herself a brief instant to imagine how beautiful her baby girl would look and to wonder what of her and Puck's personality she would have.

When she heard the curtain being pulled back, Quinn looked up to see the small brunette with the smile that had never failed to brighten her world. Quinn gave her a welcoming smile, patting the space next to her. Rachel grinned widely and skipped over to sit by the blonde, stretching her legs out in front of her. Quinn felt Rachel lean her head against her shoulder and the blonde's hazel eyes immediately fluttered shut as she tipped her head up slightly to breathe in Rachel's shampoo and sighed contentedly, feeling serenity settling over her; serenity that only Rachel seemed to be able to induce in her. She took Rachel's hand in hers, threading their fingers together and rested them on her stomach as they continued to sit in silence.

The brunette grinned and chuckled, when the blonde didn’t stop shuffling in her position. She deduced that Quinn was trying to get comfortable and figured out that it was their arms that were keeping Quinn from doing just that. Rachel reluctantly took her hand out of Quinn's grasp and instead slid her arm around the pregnant girl's waist so Quinn can cozily rest herself against Rachel, her heart beating hard against her ribcage at the happy smile on the blonde's lips. 

And then without delay, Quinn picked Rachel's other hand back up, seamlessly intertwining their fingers. Rachel decided that there would be time later to tell Quinn about what happened with Finn earlier but right now, for whatever reason, she didn’t want to break this easy silence that they were sharing just yet. Seeing Quinn so peaceful and so at ease with herself was one of the most beautiful sights that Rachel had ever seen and she would do anything to make sure that Quinn would have more of these moments.

They knew that in time, they'd have to get up and go back to Rachel's house and talk about how to handle Finn and whatever else that would come their way, but for right now?  _ This _ was good.

Rachel began to quietly hum and Quinn couldn’t help but grin, knowing that Rachel probably didn’t realize that she was even doing it in the first place. The blonde could feel the vibrations of Rachel's beautiful sound reverberating through her and it felt so good that Quinn found herself melting against Rachel's side. She snuggled even further into the girl's warmth, sighing blissfully. And as they sat there with only the sound of Rachel's soft humming echoing through the backstage of the auditorium; the scent and feel of each other taking over their senses, they let their thoughts wander. Not realizing that the dream they were seeing, was a fantasy that they both shared. A dream of  _ more _ .

\---

It was in the next week while Mr. Schuester was going around the music room, writing down on the whiteboard the various song suggestions for Regionals. They couldn't be more surprised when Finn unceremoniously shuffled into the room, both hands jammed in his jacket pockets with a blank look on his face. There was a tense silence as he surveyed the room until his eyes finally settled on both Rachel and Quinn.

The pregnant blonde bristled at his unflinching stare, especially on the brunette next to her and she instinctively reached out to Rachel. Even though Rachel denied that the incident didn't leave her a little rattled, the barest hint of fear in brown eyes and the strong, frightened grip in Quinn's hand told her otherwise. After the brunette told Quinn about the confrontation between her and Finn, a rush of protectiveness towards Rachel and anger towards Finn, came over her. And Quinn was determined to make sure that Finn wouldn’t scare or intimidate Rachel like that ever again. In the corner of her eye, she could see Santana, who had been previously sitting just a short distance away of them, subtly inching closer, was now sitting just slightly in front of them; achieving her goal of obscuring Finn's view of Rachel.

This was the first time he saw  _ them _ in the same room together, sharing the same air space, since the day of Sectionals and the anger still boiled deep inside him and he knew that forgiveness was still a long while to go. Finn finally noticed Santana filling his vision, understanding from the scowl on her face that he was  _ definitely _ not in her good books right now. Guilt flared in his heart seeing the timid look on Rachel's face and he hated himself for being the cause of it. He prayed that they could see the sorrow in his eyes, for misdirecting his unbalanced emotions onto somebody who had done nothing to deserve it.

By now, everybody in the club had heard about what happened between their co-captains and they sat silently, frozen in their seats as they all waited to see what he was going to do. A simultaneous inaudible sigh of relief was released when Finn shifted his gaze to their teacher who was looking at him worriedly. He greeted him in a quiet, civil voice, "Hey Mr. Schue."

"Welcome back, Finn." Mr. Schuester slowly approached the taller boy, keeping a cordial smile on his face. "We missed you last week," he told the tall boy, reminding everyone of Finn's absence from every Glee rehearsal the week before. Will mentally braced himself in case something broke out where they needed him to step in to mediate for them.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Finn shrugged. "I just needed some space," he simply replied, not wanting to offer any further explanation towards his absence. They didn’t need to know that he had been taking the time away from everybody to think and get his head back on straight.

Mr. Schuester nodded knowingly, innately understanding Finn's request for privacy. "Well, I'm sure that I say this for everybody, we're glad you're back."

Save for the four girls and Puck, a murmur of agreement echoed around the room and a wry smile crossed Finn's face. "Thanks guys." As Finn took his seat, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turns around to see Matt giving him a supportive smile. He realized how much he had missed this, the easy, accepting camaraderie in Glee club and Finn resolved to throw himself into singing his heart out, hoping that the pain of losing the baby and a love he never really had would soon fade away.

He glanced over at Rachel and Quinn, bringing his gaze down to see linked hands and a pale thumb rubbing the back of a tanned hand. Finn felt weirdly glad that they had each other, somehow realizing that he hadn’t seen them this relaxed and comfortable with anybody else before. Looking over at Puck, he felt a flash of pain at his best friend's betrayal. During his time away, he realized that while he hated what they did, he couldn’t find it in himself to actually hate them. He hoped that one day soon, like Rachel hoped too, they would all be friends again even though it would take some time before he could get over his anger towards Puck and Quinn. And then to earn Rachel's forgiveness for the way he acted but he was willing to work for it. He had a gut feeling that Quinn and Santana weren’t going to make it easy for him anyway.

\---

The next few days passed by without incident for the two girls and they were more than happy that everything seemed to be returning to normal. It was lunch period now and they were sharing their time with Brittany, Santana and Kurt in the music room. Rachel was regaling them with how her morning went as they sat in a circle, eating their lunches and Quinn was beside her, giving her a very skeptical look. "He  _ tried _ to smile at you?"

Rachel nodded excitedly. "Yes! We were leaving class and Finn  _ actually _ said 'Bye Rachel', then his lips kind of curved upwards, slowly and with  _ very _ much difficulty. Kind of like when Santana tries to stop herself from smiling at me but she just can't help herself anyway."

Giggles rippled within the group as the aforementioned Cheerio narrowed her dark eyes, glaring at the smaller brunette. She caught on quickly though that Rachel was teasing her when she noticed that Rachel's brown eyes are sparkling with mirth. Santana gave her a dry smirk, inwardly annoyed that Rachel didn’f seem to be as scared of her anymore. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, Berry," she mumbled.

Rachel grinned sheepishly. "I'm sorry that I'm happy that he doesn't look like he wants to Kevorkian me anymore." The blonde beside her blanched at Rachel's grim choice of words resulting in her spluttering out her lunch. Rachel smiled apologetically, quickly rummaging through her backpack for tissues that Quinn could use. "I'm just saying, maybe next time he tries to talk to me, you guys won't growl at him or something?"

"We do  _ not _ growl. We are not  _ dogs _ ," the brunette Cheerio protested, sitting back against her chair as she crossed her arms defensively.

"Santana, you were practically baring your teeth at him yesterday," Rachel lightly berated her. She still found it truly amazing (miraculous even) how one of the many people who had taken pleasure in tormenting her before, was now one of the few she could call 'friend' and was actually... Protecting her?

The Cheerio stamped her feet on the floor impatiently. "If  _ you _ had your midget toes trampled on a million times by his huge clown feet,  _ you _ would have 'bared' your teeth at him too!" Santana let out an exasperated sigh when she saw Rachel began to pout and she wondered when the hell she became such a softie for  _ Rachel Berry _ . She glared at Quinn who had been silently watching their back-and-forth with a disgusting smirk on her face, recognizing that Santana was going to give in to Rachel. "Urgh, fine! I won't do anything. But I'm still not leaving you alone with him."

Rachel nodded discerningly, having guessed Santana would say that and she gave the Cheerio a small grateful smile. "Thank you Santana," she sang, teasing the Cheerio.

"Whatever," the taller brunette grumbled. In her mind, she was plotting ways in which she could m exact her revenge on Finn's massive feet. Maybe  _ that _ would teach him to learn the steps faster so he could leave her poor toes alone.

They sat in companionable silence as they continued to eat their assorted lunches except for Kurt who was still trying to absorb this new situation. Mercedes was supposed to be here with him but she was talking to a teacher about working for extra credit so he was left alone to observe the dynamic between the four girls. A couple of months ago, he didn't really think much of it when Brittany started talking to Rachel because the tall blonde talked to everybody. And he could only guess that she was the reason that Santana tolerated Rachel at all now. Though with the way she talked to Rachel, Kurt wasn’t really sure how to describe that relationship just yet. 

Kurt remembered having to literally do a double-take when he first saw Quinn and Rachel sitting together in the music room during Glee, talking in a very friendly manner. It surprised him even more to see them bantering with no awkwardness that should have been there for two people who allegedly hated each other. And he recalled the way the two cheerleaders and former cheerleader seemed to refer to Rachel while they were going through their Sectionals crisis and they revealed that they were indeed spies for Coach Sylvester (therefore proving him right. He was still waiting for  _ that _ apology).

All in all, it was extremely mind-boggling and he wondered when exactly did he step into this alternate universe where Brittany, Santana and Quinn were willingly spending their time with  _ Rachel Berry _ . A universe where Finn avoided most of them (except when he was apparently  _ trying _ to smile at Rachel) because of a secret that Quinn, Puck and apparently  _ Rachel _ , kept from him. Kurt couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for Finn to find out that his best friend and girlfriend betrayed him like that. And it surprised him even more that Rachel had actually known about it for over a month, and didn't run straight to Finn at the very second that she knew.

With his thoughts still spinning around, Kurt was taking note of the very little space between the former Head Cheerio and the diva. "I actually thought that Rachel would be the one to tell Finn." He slapped his mouth in shock realizing that his thought filter had completely left him. The girls' heads whipped up in reaction to his left field comment, the four of them wondering what prompted him to say that. And from the varying stares of confusion on their faces, worry began to bubble in the pit of his stomach that he might have just opened a can of worms. Rachel's eyebrows were knitted together into a curious frown. Figuring that she needed a little clarity, he added, "You know, because you liked Finn? Actually, I'm surprised that you aren't standing by his side and taking advantage of him in vulnerable state."

Rachel barely managed to hide the sharp intake of breath, stung by Kurt's blunt words but Quinn still heard it and glared icily at the boy. " _ Don't _ say crap like that to her," she quietly warned him, a hint of caution in her voice. A small hand enveloped hers and she turned her head to face Rachel, giving her a lopsided smile with reassurance in her hazel eyes.

Kurt's blue eyes curiously zeroed in on the very comfortably intertwined hands in front of him, wondering when  _ that _ happened. And he picked up on the soft look in Quinn's hazel eyes as she stared into Rachel's. He pushed it to the back of his mind to think about some other time (in other words, gossip time with Mercedes) as he shrugged and haughtily lifted his chin, not heeding the forewarning that Quinn gave him. "Excuse me? But our dear Miss Berry here has never once tried to hide her embarrassingly hideous crush on Finn and I'm merely asking why she hasn't taken the opportunity to pounce."

As Quinn opensd her mouth to snap at him, she got cut off when Santana snortsd loudly. "Oh, like  _ you _ tried to hide your  _ own _ 'embarrassingly hideous' crush on Finn, you mean?" She sneersd seeing Kurt flustered that his secret crush wasn’t such a secret after all and his whole face blushed red. Rachel took pity on Kurt, thinking that he looksd like he was trying to induce a heart attack just so he could be free of Santana's burning eyes, and knowing that the Cheerio had more things she wanted to say to shame the poor boy and that the blonde beside her was also itching with something to say.

"Santana, Quinn, it's okay," she said, hoping to placate the temperamental brunette and the very hormonal pregnant girl. When she saw Quinn's reluctance to back down, Rachel applied a bit of pressure on the blonde's hand, wordlessly telling her to let it go. Quinn rolled her eyes, taking her hand back as she grunted in defeat.

Disappointed at the loss of Quinn's hand in hers, the singer got the feeling like she was tag-teamed when Brittany started to growl, "No Rachel, it is  _ so _ not okay." Brittany didn't show it but she really hated it when Rachel allowed people like Kurt and Mercedes say such mean things about her and not do anything about it. Rachel told her once that she just knew that it was better to wisely pick her battles, whatever  _ that _ meant. Sure, Brittany could admire the small brunette's forgiving quality but sometimes she would kind of like to see Rachel fight back.

Rachel shook her head. "No Britt, it is. I know that Kurt doesn't mean any harm." She turned to look at him, silently telling him to agree and Kurt vigorously nodded his head, gratitude and an apology clouding his icy blue eyes. "And I've heard far worse things, so really, it's fine." So frank in its manner was Rachel's statement and Quinn and Santana couldn’t help but wince at the reminder of when they were the source of those 'far worse things'. Nobody knew how to respond because they couldn’t exactly refute something they knew as true so they sat silently glancing between each other as Rachel thoughtfully looked down to the floor.

Taking advantage of the reprieve, Kurt got up from his seat, announcing in a hurry, "I'm going to go... Far away now. Good day ladies." He walked off before anybody else could reply and the girls watched as he quickly escaped out of the room, in search of Mercedes.

A few still minutes pass when Rachel quietly murmured, "I might have considered it,  _ if _ I had found out from somebody else."

Not giving anybody ample time to react or reply, she quickly added, "But I found out from Quinn, albeit completely by accident on her part," she giggled making Quinn blush as they both recalled the way Quinn had rambled on and on about why she found it strange that her baby was kicking for Rachel, and then unknowingly revealing her secret. She set her gaze downwards, pressing a hand on her stomach, feeling the reason that she was here now. Her baby was kicking enthusiastically, drawing a content smile on Quinn's lips. And like always, Rachel sighed, charmed by the breathtaking picture that Quinn presented.

Santana watched Rachel stare longingly at the undiscerning blonde, and she rolled her eyes at how sickeningly  _ obvious _ the two girls were. How they didn’t seem to notice their feelings for each other at all, Santana didn’t know. She sensed though that there was more that they wanted to say to each other but were too afraid to do so in front of her and Brittany so she sighed tiredly, "Bored now." She gave Brittany a meaningful glance, hoping the tall blonde would get the hint that she wanted to get out of the room and leave the other two girls to talk about... whatever.

Rachel chuckled good-naturedly at Santana's dry remark, then she nudged Quinn's shoulder, garnering a demure smile from the blonde.

Brittany took a second longer before she caught on to the look in her girlfriend's dark brown eyes, and started to stand up. "Want to go find an empty closet and grope each other for the rest of lunch?"

Santana snickered when she noticed both Rachel and Quinn blush at her girl's lack of modesty. She lifted her chin to look up at Brittany and smirked lasciviously. "Best offer I've had all day." Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and began to drag her out of the room; leaving the two flustered girls to their own devices. "Later losers."

They both waited for the door swing to a close before Rachel sighed, having guessed that the previous conversation was still present in the blonde's mind. She turned to Quinn with a serious expression on her face. "Quinn, I've never lied to you, have I?" Rachel waited for the pregnant girl to shake her head before continuing, "Do you remember what it was like before we were friends?" The blonde frowned in response and guilt clouded hazel eyes, memories of slushies and taunting insults running through her mind. Rachel picked up Quinn's hand, threading their fingers together and gave her a forgiving smile, silently apologizing for the reminder.

"We may not have thought of each other as enemies but we still weren't really that nice to each other, were we? We both know now that I didn't hate you but it also didn't necessarily stop me from chasing after Finn when you two were together," she added with regret in her tone.

It was a difficult thing, dredging up their stormy history and it was very likely never going to stop being an issue for them. Quinn felt horrible for all the time she stood by and laughed maliciously as Rachel received the slushie treatment from the high school elite. Her conscience got another beating when memories of "Man-hands" and "RuPaul" echo in her mind. And Rachel would never forget the way she doggedly pursued Finn despite knowing that Quinn was his girlfriend. Especially now that she had taken a much closer inspection to how she truly felt for the girl that used to torment her on a daily basis.

"If this had happened back then, yes, I most likely would have told him. Not because I had feelings for him. I have come to realize that any feelings I had for Finn, while very real, they weren't  _ actually _ feelings of love. Admittedly yes, I had a crush on him. But who wouldn't? He's the popular jock with a big heart. Granted, we haven't seen much of it lately but we can excuse him for that considering what he is going through-" Rachel stopped in her tracks when she saw an amused eyebrow quirking in her direction and she smiled sheepishly. "I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"It's okay. I'm kind of used to it by now." Quinn lightly chuckled when Rachel's cheeks reddened. She picked up from Rachel left off, "So you would have told him whether you had feelings for him or not."

Rachel nodded. "Yes. I would have told him anyway because he is my friend. I would have told him because you and I weren't friends then, so I had no loyalty to you to keep quiet."

Quinn couldn’t fault Rachel for being so straightforward with the truth, as hurtful as it might seem. Actually, she kind of admired the brunette for her strong sense of duty to Finn and she was more than grateful that she herself got to experience that same unfailing allegiance. She hoped that she wouldn’t do anything to lose that. "Good thing I got to you first then, huh?" the blonde quipped. Rachel gave her a smile that filled her heart with warmth.

"I'd like to think you got to me just in time," Rachel murmured, gazing intently at the blonde and Quinn glowed as she returned the stare, her heart racing at the implicit meaning of Rachel's words. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and it broke spell they were under. They shook themselves out of the stupor and started cleaning up the remnants of their lunch.

After they were done, just as Quinn made a move towards the door to head to her next class, she felt a tug on her hand keeping her back and it was Rachel trying to get her attention. "I'm sorry if what I said hurt you but I just want you to understand, truths are and can be unpleasant but I never want to lie to you, Quinn. That's not who I am," she declared firmly.

Quinn rested her hands on her swollen stomach, smiling ruefully, "But that's who  _ I _ am. I lied... To  _ everybody _ ."

The smaller girl adamantly shook her head. "No, that's who you  _ were _ . You've told the truth,  _ many _ unpleasant truths in fact, but here you are now, lie-free." Rachel pulled her hand away to slide her arm around Quinn's waist instead, coaxing the blonde to come closer. Quinn wrapped her own arm around the brunette's shoulders. And as she stood there, her body comfortably pressed against Rachel's, she leaned her head against Rachel's and she soaked in the tender moment that they were sharing, not caring that she would be late for class. "I told you that you were a brave person, Quinn Fabray," Rachel whispered reverently.

Tears began to well up in hazel eyes as a burst of hormones shot through her, touched by the pride in Rachel's voice and it was because of  _ her _ . She did something that made Rachel proud of her. And really, it was kind of an awesome feeling to have Rachel look at her like she just fixed the world or something equally amazing. "Guess I should start listening to you, shouldn't I?" she asked, a whimsical smile playing on her lips.

"Well, I  _ have _ been trying to tell you and everybody else the very same thing but none of you seem to believe me," the brunette admonished jokingly and shook her head. "It's almost like you guys just don't appreciate a gift when you see it," Rachel sighed dramatically.

Quinn smirked. "Rach, I think you appreciate yourself enough for all of us," she teased. Rachel pouted and stormed off. Quinn's eyes followed the girl who then turned around to playfully stick her tongue out at the blonde and Quinn couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculously precious Rachel could be.

\---

School had just let out for the weekend and Quinn found herself knocking on Mr. Schuester's office door. When she heard him telling her to come in, she braced herself, gaining the strength to not back out. "Hey Mr. Schue." She gave him a small smile, unsure if he wanted to retract his welcome now that he saw who it was.

"Quinn, what can I do for you?" Will stood up when he saw Quinn, honestly surprised to see the pregnant girl in his office. Glee had only just ended a few minutes ago and he wasn't expecting a visit from anybody.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, noting the bandage that was still wrapped around his hand. Her mind flashed back to almost three weeks ago when she saw a fist furiously punching a wall and she inwardly winced at the memory. "It won't take long, I promise."

He nodded, indicating for her to come inside. "Sure. What about?"

She walked in and examined his appearance, taking in his curly hair, more disheveled than ever and the creases in his clothes that suggested that he hadn’t ironed them properly or at all. She figured the best way to go about this conversation, was to be direct and unapologetically blunt.

Basically, to be Rachel.

"I know you've been sleeping in your car, Mr. Schue, most likely since the day Rachel and I were at your house." Her teacher looked mildly surprised; whether it was because of her lack of tact or the fact that she knew about his homeless situation. When he looked away to avoid her searching eyes, Quinn immediately felt bad and decided to hold back just a little bit. "I know it’s not my place to ask but, what’s happening between you and Mrs. Schuester?"

At the mention of his wife, Will tensed, feeling the same flurry of hurt and anger every time Terri crossed his mind. He gave Quinn what he hoped looked like a reassuring smile, getting up from his own chair to sit on the edge of the table in front of Quinn. "You shouldn't be worrying yourself about that, Quinn. This isn't your problem."

Quinn chuckled bitterly and shook her head. "Considering that I was about to give your wife my baby, I’m pretty sure I am the reason that you're here," she replied, giving him a deprecating smile as she took a seat on the chair nearest to the door.

He gazed intently into worried hazel eyes and his heart filled with pride with how far Quinn had come, remembering the days when she would talk to him with something akin to disdain. He knelt down beside her, gently taking her hand. "Hey, you did nothing wrong. You told the truth and that is the most important thing."

The blonde sighed, pulling away from him. She knew that she did the right thing, making Terri tell Mr. Schuester the truth, but it still didn't stop the guilt from erupting inside her, especially now, seeing him appear so haggard and so lost. "Do you hate her?" she softly asked, her voice small and almost child-like.

He gave her a warm smile. "No, I don't hate her," he answered. They had been together for too long and while it might not have been good lately, the time before was pretty good. Terri was his high school sweetheart, how could he ever really hate her? It was just that right now, he couldn’t look at her without feeling the urge to make her feel the same hurt that he felt. And he knew that if he went home, she would be there waiting for him. He had been back to pick up spare clothes and she was there, hoping that he was there to reconcile with her. He knew that she could easily find refuge at her sister's place and it brought him some comfort that she hadn't run away.

Quinn leaned forward in her seat, her hands folded together in front of her. "I don't know if it helps but, she really does love you, Mr. Schue," she attested. "I mean, granted, she  _ should _ have told you, but I bet she regrets that. I know I regret not telling Finn in the beginning."

"Why didn't you tell him?" he asked. A part of him thought that maybe if he knew why Quinn lied, maybe he could understand why Terri did the same thing to him because even after weeks of space from her, he still couldn’t wrap his head around what Terri did. He still couldn’t get over his anger because he just didn’t get how Terri had let herself be convinced to lie to him like that and to think that it was somehow the right thing to do.

The pregnant girl shrugged, answering simply, "Because he loved me. Because I was afraid of losing that love to be left with nothing." There was no better reason for anything that Quinn did, other than fear. And it was only a logical assumption that it was the driving force behind Terri's own actions. Especially the fear of losing the one person who you knew would take care of you, no matter what happened. Except of course, when they actually found out that you lied to them.

"You don't think if you told him the truth at the start, he would have stayed with you?"

She snorted loudly in disbelief at his naïveté. "Would  _ you _ have stayed if Terri told you that she didn't have the baby?" she countered, challenging him.

Will nodded defiantly. "Yes, I would have. My feelings wouldn't have changed. I wouldn't have left her then."

Quinn wanted to believe that he was telling the truth, that he would have stayed with Terri if she had told him the truth in the beginning. But from what she had seen of their relationship together, maybe this baby drama was needed for them to see just what was wrong in their marriage. Because Quinn saw the way Mr. Schuester had been sidling close to Miss Pillsbury in the school hallway, the intimate way he talked to her as if there was nobody else in the room. Just like the way she saw Finn and the way he was acting with Rachel in the beginning.

The parallel between his relationship with Terri and her own relationship with Finn was so obvious that she was sure that he had caught onto it. The fact that both she and Terri were so willing to lie to keep the men in their lives because deep down inside, they didn't know if there would ever be another person who would love them the way they did. And that both men were so willing to believe the carefully constructed lies that were presented to them about babies that were either never there or never theirs in the first place.

She wondered if he realized the lengths that she and Terri went to manipulate both him and Finn to keep them by their side due to the rebirth of Glee club. Just like she saw Glee club as a threat to her relationship with Finn, Terri Schuester saw it as a threat to her marriage with her husband.

"Is it  _ really _ such a mystery why she kept it from you though? It was the first time in a long time since you showed any real interest in her."

" _ She _ didn't show any interest when I wanted to teach Glee," he retortsmed petulantly. "If I listened to her then, I wouldn't be here for you guys, would I?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at his childish behavior. "Don't get me wrong, Mr. Schue, we appreciate what you're doing for us. But this is about you and your wife, not us," she pointed out. "You guys were in a rut. And now, you have Glee. What did  _ she _ have?"

"She had  _ me _ ," he replied. Will had always figured that Terri had her work at Sheets N Things, her hobbies and him. He didn't think she needed anything else. Terri always seemed so confident and self-assured, and he was always perfectly fine with her pushing him to do more, to be better. And that had been the way it was between them for most of their marriage. Until he started talking to Terri about Glee and she just shot him down every single time. She never seemed to support him at all. Glee made him so happy and he thought that Terri would have been happy for him. She  _ should _ have been happy for him.

To his surprise, Quinn laughed, giving him a disturbingly penetrating smile. She shook her head at his ignorance, understanding Terri's actions a little bit more. "Did she really, Mr. Schue? Because it looks more to me like Miss Pillsbury had you." Since Miss Pillsbury didn't go through with marrying Coach Tanaka, Quinn had noticed Mr. Schuester sharing lunch period with Miss Pillsbury in her office more often than usual. And it really did remind her of the times that Finn ditched her for Rachel and Glee.

" _ Has _ you, even," she added as an afterthought.

"Miss Pillsbury and I are just friends," he declared, standing to return to his former position on the table. His tone was insistent and defensive at the same time, letting Quinn know that even he didn’t seem to believe what he was saying.

"Don't lie to me, Mr. Schue. I'm pregnant, not clueless," she rebuked impatiently.

"When you have somebody like Terri tearing you down almost constantly, you'd want to have somebody like Miss Pillsbury to bring you back up," he claimed weakly, trying to justify his actions.

"My parents tore me down almost daily, so yeah I do understand, Mr. Schue," she snapped, staring harshly up at her teacher until he shamefully ripped his eyes away. Quinn sighed, feeling exhausted. "Look Mr. Schue, I know that we basically  _ made _ Terri tell you the truth, but don't do what she did. Don't keep the truth from her. Tell her if it's over. Because that woman is most likely going  _ insane _ not knowing." Deciding that she was done, Quinn got up from the chair and walked to the door.

Mr. Schuester frowned, realizing the intent behind Quinn's impromptu visit. "Why are you helping her? She tried to take your baby away from you," he tactlessly reminded her and Quinn stopped just at the door, her whole body stiffening. She rested her hand on her stomach, feeling intermittent thuds against her palm.

Keeping her back to her teacher, "Because," she began, keeping her back to her teacher, "I know what it's like to be her. I know what it's like to live with the lie that you told to stop yourself from losing everything and to deal with it every day. It might not have looked like it, but I'm sure it was  _ killing _ her to lie to you. It killed me not telling Finn. The difference is that I know now that I didn't love Finn. But Terri, she loves you. You were her reason for everything that she did. And I know you've probably been taking the time away from her to process all this. It takes awhile to get over the anger, I understand that. Finn is trying to forgive but I know that it's still a long way off before he can truly forgive us. But  _ you're _ not sixteen anymore, Mr. Schue. You can't just run away from something like this for too long."

With her final words still echoing through the room, Quinn turned the doorknob and walked out of Mr. Schuester's office, leaving him to truly think about the future of his marriage.

\---

While Quinn was talking to Mr. Schuester, Rachel was outside in the school hallway, waiting for the blonde to come out of his office. Quinn had explained earlier that she wanted to talk to Mr. Schuester about Terri. The blonde seemed to feel like she was obligated to talk to him and Rachel didn't argue or press for anything, knowing that it was none of her business what Quinn was talking about with their glee club teacher.

Rachel had been in the auditorium earlier, getting in some much-needed practice as Regionals was less than two months away. She stopped after fifteen minutes though when she realized that she sorely missed having a certain blonde be there to watch her which was why she was now leaning back against a random locker with her arms crossed as she patiently waited for her friend. Rachel wondered if this was how it was going to be now, that she was unable to sing unless Quinn was in the room with her. `

She resolved to worry about it at another time when the door opened to reveal Quinn so Rachel pushed off the metal door, striding towards the blonde. "Hey, how did your talk with Mr. Schue go?"

"It went," Quinn replied, giving a tired smile. "I just hope he sees that she didn't actually  _ want _ to hurt him. From what I could tell, it looked like she was just scared and probably felt lost and alone, and didn't know what to do. And it all just, spiraled out of control," she paused before softly adding, "I can relate to that."

Rachel immediately stopped in her tracks, her eyebrows knitting together into a sad frown. She regrettably never showed any express interest in the baby before finding out about Puck. She had seen that Brittany and Santana were veering away from Quinn. She was even part of the reason that Finn was straying. And she didn't do anything about it because she was so involved in her own life that she never thought to see beyond that. She couldn’t imagine what Quinn must have gone through.

"Hey," Quinn called out, grabbing Rachel's hand to pull the brunette's attention away from her guilty thoughts. "You  _ were _ there for me, remember? I just wasn't ready for you yet." Quinn knew that Rachel still felt bad that she wasn't there for Quinn, before all the lies happened. And sure, Quinn wished that she had taken up Rachel's offer of friendship but there was no point in regretting what had happened. Rachel was here now and Quinn was not going to be as foolish this time around.

Since the day they left Mr. Schuester's place, Rachel had been thinking even more about how Quinn must have felt. Having seen the desperation in Terri Schuester's eyes led the brunette to ache thinking that that very same desperation was in Quinn's hazel eyes too. And Rachel could only hope that Terri had somebody to be there for her now.

Rachel nodded slowly, taking in the blonde's words to heart. She breathed in deeply and gave Quinn a bright smile. "I'm glad you are now, even though you were still slightly resistant and  _ annoyingly _ stubborn about it at first," she teased.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up," she mumbled as she playfully shoved Rachel away, smiling when the brunette let out a carefree laugh that never failed to lift her spirits.


	10. Chapter Ten

As Quinn and Rachel relaxed in the Berry living room after eating dinner together as Rachel's parents were still out on their 'date night', the blonde realized that come Friday next week it would be exactly a month since she moved in with Rachel and her dads.

Living with the Berrys had been a wildly different experience for Quinn. It wasn’t like her parents were horrible and cold to her throughout her childhood. Quinn hadn’t forgotten the times when her dad would bring her and her sister to baseball or football games. And even though she fell asleep for most of them, she could never forget the tender way that her father treated her. She didn’t know how she and her dad managed to lose sight of each other as she grew older and how it led to him being the very person to make her leave the house that had been her home.

Her mother on the other hand, had always been kind of stand-offish with her, even when she was little. The only time she ever felt any maternal warmth from her mother was when Judy dressed her up in those frilly little dresses. She always felt like a show dog being paraded around town and she hated it. And the fact that her mother didn't try to stop her father from kicking her out, left Quinn feeling nothing but cold indifference towards the older woman.

The Fabray household ceased being a home when Quinn eventually got to high school. Her parents were becoming increasingly burdened by reputation and intoxicated by alcohol. It left Quinn feeling like a stranger in there; especially after her sister left went to college and then got married with a family of her own. Quinn was alone.

But being in this house, where everything in it made Quinn feel warm, loved and comforted. It was different.  _ Good _ different. There were Rachel's parents, Steve and Mal, both of whom had taken to her and had been spoiling her with food and anything else that they could think of. Quinn never knew what to do with the showering of love and care that the two men so readily gave to her. It blew her mind away. 

And then there was the whole living with Rachel Berry thing. Quinn really thought that one of them would go mad and start killing each other by the end of the first week. While Quinn could totally do without the 6 a.m. wake-up because of Rachel going on her elliptical every morning, the petite brunette had been pretty close to amazing. She didn’t even mind it when Rachel kept to her strict Myspace schedule as the singing just resulted in her baby kicking and she really didn’t mind feeling that at all. If she ever decided to keep her baby, this home would really be the perfect place to raise her.

She and Rachel were sitting side by side on the sofa, watching the History channel when she gently nudged the brunette with her elbow. "Rachel." 

Brown eyes were focused intently on what was happening on the television screen then Quinn heard Rachel hum to let her know that she had the girl's attention. "Do you ever think about your mom?" When Rachel stiffened next to her, Quinn bit her tongue, berating herself for not thinking first that Rachel's mom might be a sensitive subject for the brunette. She even felt her own baby moving inside her, scolding her for it.

The brunette leaned away from Quinn, crossing her arms, but kept her eyes on the television. After a few silent minutes, Quinn thought that maybe Rachel was choosing to ignore the question so she decided to just drop it when Rachel softly murmured, "Sometimes."

Rachel let out a deep, shaky breath before continuing, "Sometimes I would lie awake at night, and I would imagine what she would look like, what she would  _ be _ like. If I am at all like her. I wonder if she sings too. Does she go through nights when she would sing into the night for the daughter she gave away like I would sing for the mother that gave me away? Is she happy where she is?" Rachel appeared wistful, her eyes dark and longing as she stared blankly into the animated screen.

" _ Are _ you happy where you are?" the blonde quietly asked, her heart hurting at seeing the empty brown eyes.

Rachel angled her head to briefly give Quinn a comforting smile. "I am. I'm very happy," she swore. "I know that regardless of how far we have progressed as a society, my family is still considered unconventional compared to apparently "normal" families and that we have to deal with the ignorant discrimination for living the way we are. But my dads are all that I've ever known. And they love me with all their hearts and they have never left me wanting for anything. I'm perfectly fine not knowing."

Quinn turned to face the brunette's side. "But sometimes, you do want to know?" she urged, her interest piqued by Rachel's words.

The brunette's eyes purposefully followed the movements on the monitor, dipping her head once. "Yes. Sometimes," she conceded.

When it was only the sound of the television that reverberated through the room for a few moments, Quinn decidedly leaned forward, resting her forehead on Rachel's temple, breathing in the brunette's shampoo. She whispered, "I'm sorry that I upset you."

Rachel rotated slightly so that her forehead was pressing against Quinn's, closing her eyes as the blonde's scent surrounded her. "You didn't upset me, Quinn," she whispered in return, easing Quinn's distress. The blonde's head shook against hers and Rachel opened her eyes to see remorseful hazel ones.

"Your eyes are sad," Quinn observed, hoping that Rachel would notice the apologetic tremor in her voice.

"I'm not," the brunette insisted. "I've never known what having a mother is like so I don't actually  _ miss _ it. I don't know what it's like to have a mother nag or worry about me. I've got two dads who  _ constantly _ do that for me already, so why do I need a third really?" Quinn scrunched her nose and shuddered at the thought of having an extra parent and Rachel grinned at the adorable look on the blonde's face. Rachel sat back, changing her position into a more comfortable one by resting her head instead on Quinn's shoulder and looping her right arm around Quinn's left, moving her hand down to entangle their fingers as she relaxed against the pregnant girl.

The blonde sighed happily, momentarily nuzzling her nose into Rachel's hair; the familiar smell from silky chestnut locks calming her frazzled nerves. She then returned her attention to the television, thinking that it was the end of that conversation. 

"But I guess sometimes, once in a while, in the quiet of the night, my mind wanders and I get this feeling like, I miss  _ her _ . Like I can feel this gaping hole inside myself where she  _ should _ be." Rachel peered up at Quinn through her eyelashes. "Is it wrong for me to feel that?"

Quinn reassuringly squeezed the small hand in hers. "You can't help how you feel, Rach."

Rachel watched the television for a few more seconds when curiosity got the best of her and she asked the blonde, "Why are you asking me about my mom, Quinn?"

The pregnant girl shook her head and shrugged. "Because I want to know if I'll be doing the right thing too," she murmured, pressing their entwined hands down on her stomach, feeling her baby's enthusiastic kicks. Quinn knew only a little bit about the history behind Rachel's birth; that her parents picked a surrogate to carry her for nine months and that Rachel's dads adopted her as soon as they could after she was born, and that was pretty much it. Quinn just wanted to know about the woman who willingly gave Rachel away; wanted to know whether she would make as good a choice as Rachel's mother did when she chose Steve and Mal.

Understanding filled Rachel's being now that she realized Quinn's intentions. "I don't know what the circumstances that led my mother to give me away were. But as it turns out, she did the right thing because I couldn't ask for better parents than the two men that I've known all my life. So I can never feel anything but grateful to her."

"But I can't tell you if you will be doing the right thing or if you will be just as lucky, Quinn. That's not something we can predict. Life's kind of a gamble that way. You just never know when or how things will change. They just do. You can try to change them back but sooner or later, they'll change again," Rachel rationalized. "When the time comes, you'll know what to do."

Quinn sighed, accepting Rachel's answer. She knew that Rachel was right. It was just that sometimes, she wished the answer could fall right onto her lap. "You'll be with me all the way though, right?" She kept her eyes on the monitor in front of her, feeling a blush rising up her neck to her face.

The brunette raised a hand to Quinn's face, gently persuading the blonde to face her. When hazel eyes reluctantly met her own, "Where else will I be?" she asked, giving Quinn a smile, her dark brown eyes filled with unwavering promise.

\---

"No," Quinn objected, vigorously shaking her head.

Puck stared at her in disbelief. "What? What do you mean 'no'?" he asked, outraged that she was refusing him this one  _ tiny _ thing. He didn't think it was an unreasonable request and yet here she was, telling him 'no'. He wasn’t used to being told that word. And let it be said, he  _ really _ didn’t like it.

Quinn folded her arms across her chest, her nose wrinkling in disgust. "I mean,  _ no _ , Puck. There is no way." The blonde rolled her eyes, unmoved by his pleading hazel eyes.

"Come on! 'If you think I'm cute, you should see my pops'. It's awesome  _ and _ true. We should totally get this for her," he argued, holding up the light blue onesie closer to her face, as if seeing it any closer would make her change her mind. She smacked his hands away from her, wishing once again that Rachel didn't have dance lessons on Saturdays so that she'd be here right now with Quinn and Puck as they strolled around the department store looking for some maternity clothes. 

She was glad though that she didn’t have to do this alone. But all Puck seemed to want to do was grab things from the baby section and showing them to her, as if seeing them would sway her decision, when really, they were kind of really annoying her. Puck did mean well and she knew that his actions were driven by the fact that he was strongly vying for them to keep the baby.

"We don't even know if we're keeping her or not," she reminded him, not wanting to hurt his feelings but he really needed to remember that there was no decision set in stone yet. She didn’t want him to keep his hopes up.

Puck frowned, his eyes turning dark green at the thought of losing his daughter to some stranger who probably wouldn’t know to teach her about how to be a badass. "And I'm saying that we  _ should _ keep her. We can do this you know. We've got friends who would actually help out. Especially Berry. Now she would  _ definitely _ do anything for you." The boy smirked when he saw the not so subtle coloring of Quinn's cheeks at the very mention of the brunette who was probably pirouetting or some crap like that. And no, he wasn’t going to divulge just how he knew what a damn pirouette is.

Still blushing, Quinn sighed. "It's just a really huge decision and so many things can go wrong. I don't want to get it wrong for her," she confessed, revealing her fears to the only person who could truly get what she was going through. She was proven right when he nodded knowingly, understanding shining in his eyes.

"You're not alone. Just remember that," he mumbled, setting his gaze elsewhere as he jammed his hands in his jean pockets, trying to maintain his cool in front of her.

"I really am grateful that you're helping out with everything." The pregnant girl smiled appreciatively, marveling at how he reluctantly managed to show his sweet, caring side to her; a side that Rachel was adamant was the real person behind the 'Puck' façade.

He gave her a perfectly crooked smile, cocking his eyebrow up at her. "Are you grateful enough to let me buy this for her then?" he asked, holding up the onesie again as he put on a pout, hoping that it would help his case.

Quinn rolled her eyes at him, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Oh god,  _ fine _ ! Go pay for it already." She shooed him away, directing him towards the cash register before she changed her mind.

She wandered off to browse through the selection of maternity pants, looking through the assorted colors and shaking her head at the very limited choice. She checked her watch, grinning when she saw that it wouldn’t be long until Rachel was done with her dance class. Earlier the brunette said that she would join them so that they could catch a movie later together. 

Her mind blissfully drifted into images of Rachel stretching and dancing in her leotard when very suddenly she felt a tight pain in her abdomen that she hadn’t felt before. She knew that the closer she was to her due date, the more she would feel certain cramps but this one was really taking the cake. She started to feel dizzy when the tightening began to sharpen, and she clutched her stomach with one hand and her other hand reached out to grip something steadier.

Puck was happily walking back with his purchase and at seeing Quinn pale and bending down in a position that couldn’t actually be good for the baby, he raced towards her. "Quinn, what is it?"

Quinn didn’t know what was wrong and her mind was a complete blank that she couldn’t recall anything that she read in those damn baby books Rachel and Puck gave her that could explain this excruciating pain away. She grabbed for Puck's hand, secretly wishing that it was a smaller hand and she looked up at him, fear in her hazel eyes. She clenched her jaw, her nose flaring as she tried to breathe through the cramps. "It  _ hurts _ ."

Puck acted fast and wrapped his arm around her waist, half-dragging and half-carrying her out of the store and towards his pick-up. "Come on, we're getting you to the hospital."

"Call Rachel," she whimpered as he grunted, lifting her into his truck.

Puck shook his head, pulling on the belt to buckle her in. "She's still at dance, Q. We'll call her when we get there."

Quinn grabbed his arm with both hands, her nails digging into his skin. "No, call her  _ now _ ," she demanded. She saw him start to shake his head and she gave him a desperate, begging look, "Puck,  _ please _ ."

Watery hazel eyes almost melted his resolve but Puck didn’t budge, deciding to distract her with something else. "Look Princess, we  _ have _ to get you to the hospital, alright? You look about ready to pass out and I am too young and  _ too _ pretty to die," he said, emphasizing his claim by snapping the buckle shut.

She gave him an incredulous look. " _ You're _ too young to die?" she yelled when he circled the front to his side of the vehicle.

After buckling himself in, he turned to the panting blonde, "Yeah, if I don't take you to the hospital straightaway, that's what is  _ going _ to happen to me when Berry finds out. And I'd rather you be pissed at me for not calling her, than have her be pissed at me.  _ Believe _ me." He shuddered at the image of Berry glaring him down, even though he was way taller than she was. But still, he  _ definitely _ did not want to face off with a livid Rachel Berry, especially when Quinn was involved. Now that was just a whole lot of crazy.

He turned the key, starting the engine when he heard sniffling beside him and he groaned, knowing that he had already been defeated. He leaned forward to press his forehead against the steering wheel and cursed that he could never resist a crying woman. Puck could handle an angry female, swearing and throwing things at him, but place a weeping girl in front of him and he was absolutely stumped. 

He knew that Quinn was like this due to the pain and also to the fact that she wanted Rachel with her. Puck didn’t question what was going on with his baby mama and his ex-girlfriend, because really, they could talk all they wanted but there was no way they could be  _ just _ friends if Quinn was acting this way. But whatever made her happy, then he would do whatever it took. He braced himself before carefully placing a hand on Quinn's shoulder, making sure his voice was soft and soothing, "Tell you what, I'll call her right now and she can meet us there, okay?"

Quinn nodded, still breathing through the pain as her stomach sharply tightened again. Puck went through his contact list, and then started to steer his truck out of the parking lot as he waited for Rachel to pick up her phone. "Berry."

She listened in as Puck talked, wishing that she could hear the brunette's voice right now. "Yeah I know that you're still at your lesson but something's wrong with Quinn." She winced when she heard the sound of Rachel's voice piercing through the speaker but not what the girl was exactly saying to Puck. She could only imagine that Rachel was probably scolding him for not calling her sooner. 

"Yes of course, we're on the way right now. I'm not an idiot." Puck frowned and she guessed that Rachel was probably telling him that he should be bringing her to the hospital and Quinn felt a smidge of guilt for making him call Rachel. "No, I'm not driving while I'm talking to you,  _ mother _ ," he lied easily as he weaves through traffic and Quinn felt too weak to berate him for lying to Rachel.

"Look Rachel, just get there, alright?" he snapped, wanting to end this phone call right the hell now. Puck glanced to his side and he saw Quinn desperately clinging on to her stomach, looking back at him. "Wait, hold on," he told her before holding out his phone out the blonde, waiting for her to take it. "Here." Quinn looked at the phone in his hand. Puck placed the phone on her hand, pressing it into her palm. "Talk to her."

The pregnant girl picked up the cell phone, bringing it up to her ear. "Rachel?"

" _ Quinn _ -" the brunette began, only to be cut off by Quinn rambling her panic, "Rachel! I don't know what's wrong. I don't remember  _ anything _ from those books that you guys gave me. I'm not ready-"

Rachel softly shushed her until Quinn stopped babbling to listen.  _ "Quinn babe, it'll be okay. I am sure that everything will be fine. Just breathe for me, okay?"  _ Quinn started to breathe loudly in response.  _ "Good girl _ ," the brunette cooed. " _ Noah is driving you to the hospital and you're going to get checked out and I'll be right there with you, okay?"  _ Quinn nodded, forgetting that Rachel couldn’f see her.  _ "Do you want me to stay on the line?" _

"Yes," Quinn hastily replied.

She heard the sound of a car door shutting close, feeling a little better knowing that Rachel was at least on her way now. _ "Okay, hold on." _ The blonde assumesd then that Rachel was searching for her hands-free kit and for the rest of the drive to the hospital, Rachel talked about random things that didn’t actually register in the blonde's mind. She just heard the familiar hum and the soothing timbre of Rachel's voice going through the line and while she still felt the painful swelling in her stomach, Quinn felt comforted that she wasn’t facing this alone. Puck and Rachel were here with her.

She kept a tight grip on the phone and she didn’t realize that they were finally at the hospital when Puck was standing by the open car door, holding out his arm for her to take and the last thing she heard from Rachel is,  _ "I'll be there soon. I promise." _

_ \--- _

Quinn was laying on the hospital bed when she heard a voice quietly breaking through her thoughts. "Hey you." She lifted her head from the pillow to see her favorite brunette leaning by the doorway. Rachel had a serene smile on her face and her arms were loosely crossed over her stomach. Quinn noted the fading traces of worry in her brown eyes as Rachel walked inside the room.

The pregnant girl laid her head back down, a tired grin on her face. "Hey,” she whispered.

Rachel took a seat on the chair by the bed and rested a small hand on Quinn's stomach, smiling at the baby's kicks in response. Quinn automatically placed her hand on top of Rachel's, quietly observing the instinctual way their fingers linked together. "Gave us quite a scare, didn't she?" the brunette murmured.

"Noah is outside pacing himself. I think he's trying to get the agitation out of his system before he comes inside," the brunette chuckled even though she still felt a little shaken herself from the earlier phone call and hearing Quinn's panicked voice. She was surprised that she managed to stay so calm for Quinn when everything inside her was just screaming in hysteria. But the warmth of Quinn's hand in hers and the lively thuds of the baby kicking under her palm melted any remaining tense feeling in her body and Rachel allowed herself a sigh of relief that Quinn and the baby were okay.

A Braxton-Hicks contraction was what the doctor called it, which apparently, was only supposed to be a  _ mild _ discomfort for the unborn child's mother. But given Quinn's petite size, it had been known to hurt just a little bit more than normal. Quinn remembered that this baby also happened to be half Puck's and really, when she thought about it, it wasn’t so surprising that their little girl was giving her trouble  _ before _ leaving the womb. She wasn’t very fond of the pain, of the constant tight swelling of her stomach but she was more than glad when the doctor said that there was nothing wrong and that the baby was just fine.

"Why aren't they letting me go yet?" the blonde whined. All she wanted was to get out of this itchy hospital gown, into her own clothes and leave with Rachel. She shifted uneasily to show her discomfort.

"They just want to make sure that everything is fine, babe. Once they're done, we can go," Rachel promised, giving the adorable pouting girl an indulgent smile and brushed her fingers through fine golden hair. Her smile widened when Quinn sighed contentedly and relaxed under her touch.

They stayed like that, just quietly staring at each other until they heard the door open and Rachel immediately pulled her hands onto her lap. Alarm washed over her when she saw Quinn's face paled and she turned to face the current visitor. Rachel felt her own heart stop at the sight of Russell and Judy Fabray standing stoically in the doorway.

"Mom, Dad," Quinn uttered shakily, her knuckles turning white as she kept a tight grip on the bed railing, resisting the very strong urge to grab onto Rachel's hand. "What are you doing here?"

\---

"So, your mom gets to call you 'Quinny' but I can't?" Rachel teased as she watched the pregnant girl contemplatively stare up at the ceiling. Quinn instinctively flinched in response to the moniker. She had always hated it and when Rachel tried calling her 'Quinny' that one time; it reminded Quinn of her mom. And considering her growing feelings for the girl,  _ that _ was just plain disturbing.

"That's  _ exactly _ the reason why," she muttered. She turned to face Rachel, putting on a teasing smirk of her own. "But you can call me 'babe' anytime," she purred. 

A surge of warmth passed through her when Rachel started to blush profusely, giddy that the brunette wasn’t apologizing for it because god, she kind of really wanted to hear it again. And she shivered just thinking of Rachel calling her 'babe' again, with her brown eyes trained on Quinn's hazel ones. She really, really wanted to hear it now.

Waiting for the heat to fade from her cheeks, Rachel shyly looked down at her hands. She didn’t regret saying it because she had found herself wanting to say it so many times before and when she heard Quinn panicking earlier, Rachel wanted to assure her that everything was going to be fine and 'babe' just came out. Quinn's reaction was a surprise to Rachel but friends called each other those kinds of nicknames anyway, right? It didn’t have to mean anything.

Except that Rachel  _ did _ want it to mean something. But she was sadly certain that it couldn’t be something that Quinn wanted. Still, it pleased her though that Quinn didn’t seem to mind it all, and was actually in fact encouraging her to do so again.

When Quinn sighed and started to sit up, Rachel moved towards the chair by the bed, knowing that the blonde had something weighing heavily on her mind since Quinn's parents left her room to talk to her doctor. "They want me to go back home with them," she murmured quietly.

Rachel forced herself to swallow a thick lump, restraining herself from selfishly saying that no, she couldn’t go back, Quinn's home was with  _ her _ , and that she couldn’t just go with people who thoughtlessly kicked her out in the first place. But Rachel could understand the conflict that Quinn felt, because they were still her parents and what child didn't want their parents' approval? She didn’t want Quinn to leave, to be with people who essentially shaped the Quinn Fabray that previously tormented her. And the thought of not seeing Quinn's lovely face in the morning hurt her more than anything she could ever imagine. But if going back home with her parents would make her happy, Rachel couldn’t actually do anything to stop her. She couldn’t tell Quinn the reason why she wanted her to stay when that reason might just make her pack her bags even faster. She picked up Quinn's hand, interlaced their fingers together, bravely uttering, "It's your choice, Quinn."

"I want to go home."

Even though she had expected it, Rachel's heart still pulsed painfully in surprise as a very infinitesimal part of her had hoped that Quinn would say something else. She brushed shaky fingers through her brunette locks as she nodded. "Alright then. After your doctor lets you go, we can go back and then pack your-"

Quinn shook her head. "No, Rachel." The brunette frowned and Quinn noticed glistening brown eyes. Quinn didn’t know why and something twisted painfully inside her seeing those unshed tears. She tugged on the small hand in hers, catching the other girl's attention but Rachel's hand was listless and the brunette's lips were set in a tight line.

Wanting desperately to reassure the girl, Quinn shifted to the side, pulling a surprisingly compliant Rachel to lie beside her. Quinn was surprised when Rachel immediately curled her body into the blonde's. Rachel's scent surrounded her and for just a second, Quinn took it all in, peace and safety settling deep within her bones. Only Rachel had that effect on her.

After a few silent moments, Quinn ducked her head down to catch Rachel's gaze and as they were locked in a stare, she lifted Rachel's hand to her lips. "I want to go home with  _ you _ , Rach," she shyly told her before placing a gentle kiss on the tanned palm, hoping that it would get a smile from the brunette.

And it did. A tiny watery smile, but a smile nonetheless. Rachel's brown eyes were shining with happy surprise, taken aback that Quinn was actually choosing to stay with her and her dads. It was like she was being given a second chance at something and intuition was telling her that it had everything to do with Quinn.

Both girls were feeling the same excited, fluttery feelings inside them, their hearts thudding violently against their chests and everything inside them wanted, daring them to push that line of friendship into more. But something stopped them, some invisible force that was telling them to wait just a little bit longer until the stars were completely aligned for them. And they were very certain that they weren’t going to be waiting for very much longer.

Quinn knew that if she went back with her parents, she would never get the chance to see Rachel. Her mom implied as much earlier that she would be assuming complete control over everything that Quinn would do once she made one step back in the house. Her dad didn't contribute anything to the conversation, opting to stay out of it. But he still nodded along, agreeing to everything that his wife was saying. That was what further cemented Quinn's decision to stay with the Berrys. Judy would put up a fight just so she could look ever the dutiful mother but unless her parents went through some sort of drastic personality makeover, Quinn never wanted to go back.

When Rachel hadn’t said anything, Quinn questioned the brunette whether it was okay for her to stay with her and her dads, just to make sure. Quinn didn’t want to leave. The Berry house had been the only place that made her feel safe in so long; the only place that allowed her to be herself and the only place where she felt truly loved. And she was too used to Rachel being the first face that she encountered in the morning and Quinn just wasn’t ready to give up having that smile brightening up her day.

"Is it what you truly want?" Rachel asked carefully, wanting to make sure so that Quinn wouldn’t eventually regret her decision and end up hating Rachel for not convincing her to go back with her parents.

Quinn's reply was prompt and without any hesitation. "Yes." 

Embarrassed, she looked down at their hands in her lap, watched as her thumb absently glided over the back of Rachel's hand. A finger was placed under her chin, forcing her focus to move back up, setting her gaze into deep brown eyes that were piercing right through her. Quinn swallowed nervously at seeing that beautiful face so close to hers.

"Then yes, it's  _ definitely _ okay." Rachel then moved her hand up to rest on Quinn's cheek and she felt the blonde's face move up into a grin before seeing it. Rachel bit down on her bottom lip when a thought crossed her mind. "Your parents aren't going to be happy about it though.”

Quinn clucked her tongue and pursed her lips. "Probably not, but I can't be in that house. I just can't." She shook her head until Rachel's thumb began to gently stroke her cheek and Quinn sighed, closing her eyes shut and leaning into the brunette's touch, secretly hoping (and not for the first time) that Rachel would never stop touching her like this.

Rachel nodded. "Okay, I won't let you go unless you want to," she promised, her words heavy with unspoken intent and her heart made a hard thump at the radiant smile that she received from the blonde.

"Will you stay with me?" Quinn asked before quickly adding, "When I tell them, I mean."

Rachel's smile was reassuring and her dark eyes were shining brilliantly as she repeated yesreday’s pronise in a soft whisper, "Where else will I be?"

\---

The beginning of the week found Santana walking in the music room, expecting to find the gruesome twosome, only to be greeted by the pregnant blonde sitting on her own. Quinn's hazel eyes were open wide, staring blankly into space. Santana couldn’t be sure but she thought that Quinn was also muttering under her breath. The Cheerio frowned, seeing the half-eaten lunch sitting on Quinn's lap. Pregnancy had made Quinn less strict with her food intake and Santana hadn’t seen the blonde not finish any meal that had been placed in front of her.

Santana treaded slowly so as to not startle the pregnant blonde but Quinn didn’t seem to notice Santana anyway and dark brown eyes sweeped over the blonde's form, checking to see if there was anything physically wrong. Once she was sure that nothing was wrong on the outside, Santana groaned inwardly, just knowing that it would have something to do with Berry and she really wished that she had actually waited for her girlfriend. Brittany was  _ so _ much better at this mushy stuff than she was.

She took a seat next to Quinn and Santana picked up on a few disjointed words that Quinn was muttering. Confusion befell when she caught a few disjointed words and wondered what the connection could be between 'legs' and 'heart attack'. Curiosity itched its way inside her and she knew that she was going to have to brave through this on her own.

Santana placed her hand on Quinn's shoulder, lightly shaking the blonde out of her reverie. Hazel eyes came back into focus, finally noticing the brunette Cheerio beside her but as soon as Quinn registered who it was, her eyes returned to its blank expression. "What's up, Q?" Santana asked nonchalantly, trying to mask her concern. She sighed, swearing that one of these days she was going to get an aneurysm from all this sappy 'friend' crap.

"Shorts," the blonde mumbled, her vague one-worded reply leading only to the increase of Santana's puzzlement.

"What?" the brunette Cheerio asked incredulously, urging Quinn to actually make some sense before she wore out her patience.

Quinn sighed. "Kurt gave Rachel this makeover this last weekend, right? As sort of an apology for being annoying last time." She glanced sideways to see Santana nod, indicating that she was following the story. "And now she has like, this  _ whole _ new wardrobe,  _ including _ sleepwear." When Santana shrugged and shook her head, still not getting it, the blonde elaborated, "She used to wear those cotton pajamas. You know the ones that have animal prints all over them?"

Santana sniggered at the sudden image of Rachel Berry in cow-print pajamas. "Sexy," she drawled sarcastically.

Ignoring her friend's dry remark, Quinn continued, "Right? I was fine with that because that was just cute and adorable. I got to a point where I can actually  _ handle _ 'cute and adorable' Rachel. I can even handle occasionally the moments when I'd think she's ridiculously pretty. But now,  _ now _ , she's wearing tank-tops and, and,  _ shorts _ !" the blonde exclaimed, gesturing wildly with her hands.

Santana bit down on her bottom lip to stifle her laughter. A lascivious smirk crossed her lips as she realized just what Quinn was going through. "Too much for you, huh?"

"Have you seen her  _ legs _ ? I mean seriously, how are they so long when she's so  _ short _ ? Have they  _ always _ been that long?" she asked in a panicked rush. And then she gasped when a barrage of images flashed through her mind and all she saw was Rachel giggling in that adorable, beguiling way that she did, wearing a small t-shirt and those...  _ shorts _ .

She was a little wary at first when Kurt first approached Rachel about giving her a makeover. Even Rachel was too after the first time that Kurt gave her a makeover and it ended with Finn calling her something that Rachel didn't want to repeat to Quinn, but from the hurt look in Rachel's eyes, Quinn could easily guess that Finn said something without thinking, as per usual. She felt a twinge of guilt then because  _ she _ was the reason that Kurt gave Rachel that makeover in the first place so that Finn would be distracted while she went and babysat for Terri Schuester's sister's kids with Puck.

But Kurt seemed sincere enough that Rachel forgave him and accepted his offer. And yesterday afternoon, when the two eventually came back from shopping, Kurt managed to convince Rachel to give them a fashion show. Quinn noted that most of the purchases made were pairs of jeans that all fit very nicely, hugging every delicious curve that Rachel Berry had to offer. Quinn thought that since she pretty much saw Rachel's legs on display almost daily, what with the brunette's propensity for wearing skirts and all, she shouldn't be so affected seeing those deceptively long limbs being encased in tight jeans. She shouldn't but she so very clearly was and she remembered turning to Kurt after Rachel went upstairs to her room to change. The smug look on his face told her that he knew something was going on with her and that he was enjoying just how extremely flustered she was getting.

As the 'fashion show' went on, it became very apparent that it didn't matter what Rachel wore because Quinn just couldn't keep her eyes off  _ any _ part of the brunette that was presented so enticingly in front of her. It came to the point where Quinn didn't know whether to be grateful, or to kill Kurt for unleashing the lust monster inside her. And now that she was thinking about it, if the wicked glint in Rachel's brown eyes and the crimson in her tanned cheeks were anything to go by, Quinn was pretty sure that Rachel was enjoying the attention that Quinn was giving her.

It all came to a head last night when she and Rachel were getting ready to watch a movie together in the brunette's room as the two girls had recently taken to watching DVDs together before going to bed. Quinn swore that there was nothing in the world that could have prepared her for the near heart attack that she experienced when she walked in Rachel's room and was greeted by nothing but legs that really, just went on for  _ miles _ . Quinn could easily recall the phantom itch in her hands, the rapturous want to move them over and under those delectable thighs and she was just really, really glad that she had already seen the movie that they saw last night because she really didn’t remember anything else apart from those damn legs.

"And do you know that she has absolutely  _ no _ tan lines?" she blurted out incredulously, dimly feeling herself getting hotter under the collar as she remembered exactly how she found out  _ that _ heavenly fact.

Santana scrunched her nose in disgust. "I don't know  _ how _ you even know that but please, spare me the details. That, was an over-share, Q." She did a full body shudder when she realized that she was unable to stop herself from imagining exactly how Quinn found out. "I'm surprised my freakin' ears haven't burned off."

Quinn let out a distressed moan, hiding her face with her hands, wishing with all her might that she knew how to control the arousal that seemed to have set up camp inside her and coming out in full force when Rachel was around. It used to be manageable and on a very tight leash but lately, it had been getting harder and harder to fight her impulse to jump Rachel, regardless of where they were. "Is it possible to die from your hormones going crazy on you?" the blonde whimpered pathetically.

"Why don't you just go and -" Brittany and Rachel walked in just then, interrupting whatever Santana was going to suggest and from the look in the girl's brown eyes, Quinn had a feeling that she should be grateful that they came in when they did. Her hazel eyes set instead on the smaller brunette, who was giving her a glowingly beautiful smile, and just like clockwork, Quinn felt her pulse racing and the room temperature spike up significantly.

"Hey you two."

Santana smiled at her girlfriend, pulling the taller girl to sit next to her. "Hey Britt, where were you guys?" she asked before giving Brittany a quick peck on the lips. "Hi," she said, happily greeting her favorite blonde and ignoring the other two girls in the room.

Unsatisfied with the short greeting, Brittany pushed for a longer kiss. "Hi," she replied just as softly when she pulled back but still keeping inside Santana's personal space, gracing the brunette with a small smile.

"We had to stop by Brittany's locker and feed her bird," Rachel answered Santana's earlier question after seeing that Brittany was distracted by Santana. Or more specifically, Santana's lips.

After being friends with the couple for a few months now, it still surprised Rachel seeing how easily and openly they expressed their love for each other without a care. Santana's gentle manner with Brittany was so lovely to see that Rachel's heart actually skipped a beat, reminding her of how she felt when she saw her own parents exchanging affection and she wished that one day, she could have that for herself too. She shifted her gaze from their canoodling friends to Quinn who was oblivious to her stare and as her eyes moved over the blonde, Rachel felt the ache of yearning inside her intensify.

At the thought of yesterday, Rachel repressed a shiver coursing through her body at the phantom caress of hazel eyes grazing all over her after she put on those clothes that Kurt made her buy. When she felt Quinn's eyes on her, she didn’t know what came over when she decided to take it up a notch and inject a little more sway in her hips as she strutted in her living room.

And then there was last night. Well, Rachel didn’t know what to think about last night. She just knew that there was  _ something _ permeating the room, saturating their friendly setting with a certain kind of tension that was decidedly, more than friendly. Rachel could only dare to hope that it wasn't just her desires projecting into it that maybe, just maybe, Quinn actually  _ wanted _ her.

Santana's voice snapped Rachel out of her musings. "Britt, I thought we had a discussion about you keeping birds in your locker."

The tall blonde nodded. "We did. Don't you remember?" she asked, assuming that Santana had forgotten, "We had it after I brought that bird's nest with all the eggs and everything. And then the eggs hatched and all the baby birds were like, calling for their mommy."

"No, I don't mean-" Santana stopped herself from correcting her girlfriend and decided to just move forward. She pasted on a smile and squeezed Brittany's hand. "Never mind. Just make sure this one stays alive, okay B?"

Rachel watched Brittany acknowledge Santana's advice with a nod and then brought her gaze back to the other blonde and noticed her flushed demeanor. Rachel realized then that Quinn hadn’t said a word since she and Brittany arrived. Worried, she rushed towards her, cupping the blonde's cheek with one hand, tilting the girl's head up, softly calling out to her, "Quinn?"

The pregnant girl sighed, leaning into the brunette's cooling touch as Rachel's thumb began to stroke her face. She peered up into Rachel's eyes, losing herself in deep chocolate pools when she realized that Rachel was waiting for her to respond and very inarticulately, she did. "Huh?"

"Quinn, babe, are you okay?" Rachel asked, feeling anxious at the sight of dilating pupils as she retracted her hand back onto her lap, taking a seat by the blonde.

Ever since Quinn moved in with the Berrys, the blonde relished in the moments when Rachel would dote on her and look after her. Just small things though, like giving Quinn a foot or back massage when either felt sore or making a small snack when the baby wanted something. But after they came back from the hospital, Quinn could feel Rachel keeping a much closer eye on her. She might not have said anything at the time but Quinn knew that Rachel was terrified out of her wits and it seemed that Quinn being in pain triggered a protective response in her.

"I'm fine, Rach." Surprised by the roughness in her voice, the blonde cleared her throat before adding, "I'm just tired. I didn't get enough sleep last night."

Rachel frowned. "I didn't keep you up, did I?" she asked, a hint of guilt in her tone.

"Excuse me?" the blonde squeaked. Hazel eyes widened in warning at Santana who was visibly struggling to not laugh, knowing very well exactly where the Cheerio's mind went when Rachel asked her seemingly innocent question. She hated to admit it but her mind totally went there too and her heart raced at the many ways that Rachel could keep her up late at night.

The small brunette's frown deepened. "With the music. I was doing my Myspace video, remember?" she gently reminded Quinn, wondering whether forgetfulness came with pregnancy too.

Quinn tempered down the arousing images in her mind when she realized what Rachel meant. "Oh! Right, uh no, the music was fine. Just the baby kicking like she's on speed like always," she replied, laughing nervously. It wasn’t really a lie. Her baby had been kicking up a storm lately and had been known to keep Quinn from getting a good night's rest. She was well on her way to sleep last night when she could hear Rachel singing and predictably started to feel the hard thuds against her inner stomach.

Rachel visibly relaxed at Quinn's answer and then placed a small hand on Quinn's baby bump, smiling when her palm was met with an enthusiastic thump. "Do you think that means she's going to be something of a night owl? She seems to come alive during the night time, though it shouldn't be a surprise considering her paternity," she said jokingly.

"Either that or a vampire!" Brittany added excitedly, her baby blue eyes widening at the possibility of Quinn's baby being a creature of the night.

Rachel chuckled at the blonde's recent fascination with vampires. "You can't grow up to be vampire, Brittany," she admonished lightly, giving Brittany a small indulgent smile.

The blonde pouted in response, feeling slightly put off. "Why not?"

"Because it means you have to be born one. And can you imagine what would happen to the mother while the baby is growing inside her should such a thing be possible? The baby would be drinking all of her blood and all the other blood she will inevitably consume, and the mother will have to keep replenishing the blood or she and the baby will die. Can you imagine the massacre that a vampire mother-to-be would cause?"

When complete silence followed her rant, Rachel blushed self-consciously, realizing that she just rambled on about a  _ hypothetical _ pregnant vampire. Looking between her three friends she saw Brittany looking perplexed, obviously still trying to process everything that Rachel had said. Santana looked, well, bored but that was nothing new. And Quinn still looked a little red but seemed to be okay now that she had gone back to eating her lunch. She decided to take advantage of the lull in conversation by taking out her own lunch.

After a few moments, Santana broke through the quiet by dryly commenting, "Yeah, because  _ human _ mothers-to-be aren't already scary enough," gesturing pointedly at the pregnant girl beside her.

Rachel chuckled at the narrow-eyed glare that Quinn sent Santana's way. "Quinn isn't scary," she said, wanting to defend her friend and received a grateful smile for her attempt.

"Should have been here when I tried to take a bite of her sandwich yesterday," she countered, remembering the way that Quinn practically ripped her a new one for taking a  _ small _ bite of her lunch the day before.

"Excuse me. You were  _ not _ taking a 'bite'. You were practically scarfing down half of it," the pregnant blonde scoffed indignantly.

"Quinn, I'm sure that Santana isn't actually capable of 'scarfing down' half of your sandwich," Rachel interrupted with a placating smile before Santana could say anything to further rattle Quinn's cage. Quinn's mood swings very rarely veered towards the more temperamental side of her personality, but when it came to food, Quinn was frighteningly territorial. Rachel remembered one morning for breakfast when Quinn viciously clawed her hand away from a plate of bacon. And Rachel would have said something if it weren't for the fact that Quinn was staring daggers at her as the blonde not so daintily chewed on a strip, just  _ daring _ her to try again.

And frankly, Rachel wanted to keep  _ both _ her hands, thank you very much.

"Your sandwich  _ was _ kind of huge, Quinn," Brittany added thoughtfully, picturing the pile of bacon that was in Quinn's sandwich yesterday, oblivious to the scowl coming from the pregnant blonde.

"Whatever," Quinn mumbled miserably. "You guys weren't here. I know what I saw. Now shut up so I can get back to my lunch."

"Yeah, you have to satisfy that craving somehow," Santana murmured snarkily.

Rachel looked up from her food and her brown eyes narrowed at the blonde beside her. "Quinn, have your cravings been increasing?" she asked, and the pregnant blonde mentally winced at Rachel's high-pitched tone and she just knew that she was in for a scolding when they got back home later.

Santana quickly answered before Quinn could, "They sure have.  _ Monster _ pregnancy cravings. She was just telling me about it earlier actually." The brunette smirked in triumph when Quinn glared at her.

"You should have told me," Rachel chided, taking Quinn's hand in hers to let the blonde know that she wasn’t angry or hurt that Quinn didn't tell her. Rachel gave the girl a reassuring smile. "I could have helped you with that."

Santana's smirk widened, completely enjoying the sight of Quinn fighting a rising blush, trying to not get so obviously flustered when Rachel's thumb began to stroke the back of her hand. The tiny brunette just stared at her, unaware of the effect that she was having on Quinn. But Santana knew exactly where the blonde's mind went and just how she wanted Rachel to  _ help _ her. "See that, Q? Berry wants to help  _ satisfy _ your cravings," she taunted almost giddily, inwardly trying to remember a time when she had this much fun seeing Quinn squirm.

Rachel brought her gaze to the brunette Cheerio, perplexed by her remark. She frowned. "Of course, I do. We  _ are _ living together after all. It would absolutely be abhorrent of me if I didn't do anything."

"Yeah Quinn, did you hear that?  _ Abhorrent _ ," the brunette Cheerio repeated mockingly resulting in both Brittany and Rachel giving her a strange look, trying to decipher her weird behavior.

"Shut the hell up, Lopez," Quinn growled, wanting nothing more than to duct tape Santana's mouth shut. She turned back to Rachel and felt herself immediately softening under the singer's concerned stare, "You really don't have to do that, Rach. You've already done so much for me."

The petite brunette shook her head. "But I want to. So just let me do this, okay?"

"But-" The pregnant blonde started to protest but then she saw Rachel's lips begin to form a sad pout and her resolve melted instantly. "Okay," she sighed, smiling only when Rachel beamed at her, happy that she was getting her way. For the rest of lunch, Quinn alternated between glaring at Santana who continued to smirk at her and raking her eyes over a very oblivious Rachel as the brunette talked to Brittany about proper bird care.

\---

"Finn, that was amazing," Rachel gushed, a proud smile on her face for her fellow captain's performance. 

It was Wednesday afternoon and Finn had just finished singing his 'Hello' song in front of the club, having chosen to sing  _ Hello, I Love You _ . Mr. Schuester announced that the assignment for this week was to find a song with the word 'Hello' in it. Finn was the first one to volunteer and sing his song which had proven to be a hit with everybody in the room. And although the choreography left a little something to be desired, nobody could deny that there was fire in Finn's performance; a certain spark that had been missing until now. And Rachel could tell how much it excited everybody to see Finn back on his feet as she stood by watching them congratulate and pat him on the back before walking up to him, to offer her own seal of approval.

The taller boy smiled brightly, still feeling a little adrenaline from his performance. "Thanks Rach. Mr. Schue talked to me about channeling my inner rock-star. I kind of feel really great about it." He looked up to see their teacher leaning against the piano and then nodding once to let Finn know that he did a good job. And Finn was more than happy thinking that he might just be on the way to getting his life back.

Rachel smiled softly. "I'm really glad. It's great to see that you're feeling better."

Since he came back to Glee, Finn hadn’t had very much chance to talk to Rachel, only saying hello in passing whenever they met in the hallway. And their only real interaction had been during Glee when they were singing together. After Glee on Monday, Mr. Schuester had kept him back to explain to him the reason for the 'Hello' assignment: that it was a chance for them all to reintroduce who they were, to each other and to themselves. And as Finn thought about it, Mr. Schuester was right. Somewhere along the way, Finn lost the person who he thought loved him and he loved right back, his best friend, the only person that got who he really was but more importantly, he lost himself. And even though Finn still loved Rachel, still felt a part of him yearning for the small brunette, he knew that they lost their chance together and all he wanted now was just his friend back.

And as he looked at her right now, a part of Finn felt that there had to be a catch. That Rachel couldn’t have forgiven him so easily already. Yet there it was: absolution in her dark eyes and forgiveness in her smile. His heart felt a little bit lighter and there was a sense of relief settling inside him. He spared a glance towards the trio of girls standing just a few feet away from him and Rachel. He could see that they were ready to step in should Rachel need them to do so, and it surprised him that they weren’t right by her side, glaring at him like Santana and even Brittany, had been doing for the past month. 

Quinn on the other hand had been not as drastic as the other two girls, and kept a respectful distance from him. He had a feeling that Quinn was carrying as much guilt about him as he was carrying about Rachel, if not more so, judging by the remorseful looks she shot him whenever they crossed paths and the way that she quickly looked away from him as if she was afraid he would strike her. But recently, there had been less of those looks and he saw her beautiful smile more often. He had more than a feeling that her happier demeanor had a lot to do with the small brunette standing in front of him.

He took a deep breath before sighing. "Look Rach, I know that I was a really crappy friend to you after everything that happened with Quinn and Puck. And I know that I really screwed us up when I lost it with you. But I'm really glad that we're friends again. Or at least, trying to be anyway. I really missed you," he mumbled uneasily, avoiding her eyes as he shyly scuffled the floor with the toe of his shoe.

Rachel placed a small hand on his arm, lightly squeezing it to get his attention. "I missed you too," she replied when he met her gaze and Finn's smile was so bright that his dimples are completely on display. It struck Rachel then how she used to swoon just seeing those facial indents. While she  _ did _ still think that Finn was cute, her heart didn’t still clench painfully at the sight of him, didn’t still race while she stood under his stare, didn’t still react in any way but just to beat at its normal pace. Her heart did all those things now for a certain blonde and that any kind of affection that she had for Finn was the friendly kind. It was obvious to her that Finn was trying to be accepting of the fact that nothing would ever happen between them and that he really was making an effort to remain her friend.

Finn cleared his throat, straightening his posture. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Rach," he said as he made a nod of acknowledgement towards the girls waiting for Rachel, before making his way towards the door.

As they watched him walk out of the music room, Brittany was the first to break the silence. "Was I the only one who thought it was adorable that he was trying so hard to dance?" The other three girls simultaneously chuckled at Brittany's observation because only the taller blonde would find Finn's trouble with his dancing 'adorable'.

"He was  _ barely _ moving, B." Santana shook her head. "I still don't get the appeal. I don't know how he apparently floated all three of your boats," she remarked, remembering the very disturbingly aroused look that Kurt had during Finn's performance. Though she could admit that Finn's singing had improved, she still didn’t know what they saw in him. "Berry, Quinn, Kurt. Actually it'd be four, if you count Mr. Schue." At the girls' disgusted looks, Santana shrugged, "What? It's totally true."

"While I can admit that yes, Mr. Schuester does seem to heavily favor Finn especially when he also has two potential male leads in Artie and Noah, but I'm sure it's not in the way that you're insinuating."

Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes at Rachel. Her dark brown eyes suddenly lit up, a mischievous glint in them as she recalled something Quinn told her a few days ago. "Yeah, 'cause that would be creepy, wouldn't it? A teacher and a student," she commented, a far too innocent look on her face. She snuck a glance to Quinn and set her lips into a tight line to stop the laughter that was bubbling in her throat when she saw the blonde catching onto what she was doing. She watched the blonde subtly move behind Rachel, vigorously shaking her head, trying to deter her from continuing. But unfortunately for her, Santana was just in the mood to tease Rachel (and Quinn too, which really was a bonus) and nothing short of an apocalypse was going to stop her.

"Yes exactly." Rachel nodded fervently, unaware of what was going through the Cheerio's mind and totally oblivious to Quinn signaling for Santana to stop. "It will be  _ completely _ creepy.”

The pregnant blonde fought the urge to slap her forehead in disbelief, knowing that Rachel had just dug her own grave. Quinn really hadn't meant to blurt out the thing about Rachel and Mr. Schuester but she didn't even know that she had said it until Santana asked her to rewind and repeat it. She had just been rambling on and on about Rachel and somehow that little anecdote just came out. So apparently Quinn had a problem about telling truths without even realizing that she was even doing it. She started to retreat even more, edging her way to the door because from the evil grin ghosting on Santana's face, Quinn knew that this was definitely not going to end well for her.

Santana noticed the retreating blonde and she pushed through with a fast quip, "But it's not so creepy when the student stalks their teacher back to their house, cleans his house and cooks him dinner?" She smirked as she waited for the explosion.

"That was diff-  _ Quinn _ !" Rachel yellsd as she blushed a crimson red at having Santana know about her secret. When Rachel turned around, realizing that the blonde had already left the room Santana finally let out the roar of laughter that she had been holding inside. The small brunette glared towards the direction that Quinn went. She had a feeling that Quinn was probably in the middle of one of her ramblings and she blurted it out without realizing it. But still, Rachel had only prepared herself to be mocked by Quinn, not Quinn  _ and _ Santana because judging by the mischievous glint in the taller brunette's brown eyes, there was definitely no way that this was the last time Santana was going to tease her about this.

She stormed out of the music room, leaving Santana bending over with laughter with Brittany holding her. And Rachel's only thought as she walked through the school hallway was: Quinn Fabray was going to be in  _ so _ much trouble when she found her.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe that we're already nearly halfway done with this? Crazy!
> 
> Also guys, gotta tell ya. I had this insanely debilitating toothache the day after I posted chapter ten and I just thought "wow I'm so glad I managed to post up those chapters as early as I did because I absolutely cannot". It was a wisdom tooth thing so you know how awful those things can be,
> 
> Anyway, next chapter might be posted on Sunday. This chapter was 12k and so is the next chapter. Monsters, I tell you. I hope you've been enjoying the ride with me.

It was after school; three McKinley High students were walking towards the local the music store, two of whom were dragging their feet behind the small brunette who was skipping happily to the front entrance. "I don't understand what I'm doing here," Puck grumbled, his handsome features set into a put-off scowl, his hazel eyes staring at the store logo as if it was the devil incarnate. When Rachel just gave him a smile and stood there, waiting patiently, he sighed. He remembered seeing that very same smile on her face when they were dating and he knew exactly what she was waiting for him to do. Rolling his eyes, he extended his arm out to hold the entrance door open for the girls to walk through first.

"Me neither," Quinn chimed in, pouting as she walked behind the diva, only barely managing to hold back a smile at Rachel's adorable antics. Just because Rachel was being all cute and excited and bouncy, didn’t mean Quinn was happy about being here either.

Rachel rolled her eyes at her friends' childish display. "Quinn is here because this is her  _ penance _ for her shameful act of indiscretion," she paused in her rant to narrow her eyes at the blonde who just gave her a crooked apologetic smile, obviously trying to charm her way out of Rachel's wrath. Rachel quickly looked away to avoid aforementioned smile and pointed an accusing finger at Noah. " _ You _ , on the other hand, wanted to hang out with us which means that you are under our – well,  _ my _ – mercy. And since  _ neither _ of you could seem to agree on anything to do together as a group, it meant that the decision was down to me which is why, we are all  _ here _ ."

"You couldn't have picked somewhere cooler? This is  _ so _ not badass," Puck muttered, thinking that if this was  _ Quinn's _ punishment, what did  _ he _ do to Rachel to deserve this? He looked around the store and seeing absolutely nothing of interest. He briefly wondered why the hell was there only just one piano in the middle of the whole damn place.

The brunette huffed in annoyance, throwing a reproachful glance towards the boy. "Noah, just go look at the sheet books and find a 'Hello' song that you can do for Glee," she ordered firmly. "You need to start showing your leading man potential so that we'll have more options for Regionals."

Puck pursed his lips, returning Rachel's mild glare with his own before stalking off, mumbling to himself that he really should have just gone home.

"You do know that he’s just going to try and find some girl to flirt with, right?" Quinn told the brunette.

Rachel laughed lightly. "Yeah, I know," she sighed, shrugging as she perused through the sheet books available in front of her. She glanced up to where he went and they watched as Puck stopped in his tracks. They followed his gaze settling on a couple of girls their age in another section and they watched as he changed his stride into a purposeful swagger heading towards them thus confirming what the blonde had just said. Even though Rachel liked to think that there was a part – albeit most likely a  _ small _ part – of Noah that cared about Glee and was willing to show more initiative, she couldn’t change who Noah intrinsically was: an extremely hormonal teenage boy. She snuck a glance at Quinn who was standing idly beside her. "So do you have any ideas for a song you'd like to do?"

"I've got a couple of ideas." The blonde shrugged and waved her hand dismissively at Rachel's inquiry. "Don't you worry your cute head about it."

"You don't really have one, do you?" she asked, giving the blonde a knowing look.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Fine, no, I don't. But I'll try and think of one. What are  _ you _ going to do?  _ Hello Dolly _ ?" she mocked teasingly only to get tapped on the head with a sheet book. She gaped at Rachel in shock.

"I'll have you know, Miss Fabray, that Barbra does not dictate my every musical whim. I'm going to go with another classic," she replied, showing a sheet book with Lionel Richie's face on the cover.

The pregnant blonde arched an eyebrow at the book in Rachel's hands. "Just as long as you're not singing with Mr. Schue again," the blonde quipped and she begun to chuckle but instantly stopped short when she saw Rachel's glare. "Too soon?" she asked, smiling sheepishly. She let out a yelp when Rachel's elbow sharply nudged her ribs. "God, you're violent today, aren't you?" Quinn rubbed at her side and pouted in Rachel's way until the brunette rolled her eyes and pulled Quinn close into a cozy one-armed hug in apology.

After a short while Rachel returned her attention to the sheet book in her hand but kept her arm wrapped around Quinn's waist, much to Quinn's surprise. Not that she minded, obviously, standing so close to Rachel that she could very easily just lean her head down and rest it against the brunette's, pretending to look through the book when she really was just enjoying being held by the girl. It definitely wasn’t a horrible way to spend her afternoon, cocooned in Rachel's warmth. And the diva didn’t seem to be protesting so Quinn didn’t think about pulling away and instead pressed herself even more into Rachel, biting back a moan at the delicious scent wafting from brunette locks. This wonderful experience was however marred after Quinn casted a glance around the store trying to find Puck but instead met a blue-eyed stare belonging to a teenage boy with immaculately tousled brown hair that was eerily reminding her far too much of Mr. Schuester. That alone was already giving Quinn the heebie-jeebies.

Now that she was taking a better look at him, she realized that it wasn’t really at her that he was looking but Rachel. His staring resulted in Quinn glaring icily at him, wondering who the hell this guy thought he was, looking at Rachel like that as if he  _ knew _ her or  _ wanted _ to know her. Quinn pulled on Rachel's fingers that were comfortably gripping her side, trying to gain the brunette's attention. "Rach, there's a really creepy guy trying to burn holes into your head," she whispered harshly.

Rachel's head snapped up from the book to the direction that Quinn was looking and she saw a tall, handsome boy, clad completely in black. She let out an inaudible gasp when she realized who it was. "It's Jesse St. James, male lead of Vocal Adrenaline." Her brown eyes hardened when he noticed them looking and proceeded to give them an annoyingly confident smirk. She looked back down to the sheet book. "Our arch-nemesis," she hissed, purposefully keeping her eyes on the page to avoid his gaze.

Quinn rolled her eyes. " _ Arch-nemesis _ ? Being a tad over-dramatic, aren't you?" she asked dryly.

Rachel smiled crookedly. "And you're only finding this out  _ now _ ?" the brunette replied, sparing her an amused glance.

"Well no, I was just in the mood to state the obvious," she quipped, smirking when Rachel smacked her lightly on the shoulder. "Anyway, why do you think he's looking over here?"

Rachel shrugged, murmuring quietly as she flipped to the next page, "Most probably to size up his competition." Meanwhile, Rachel was trying to act casual, willing herself to not act like a weakling in front of her competition, to not show that she was intimidated by his mere presence. Having seen him perform with his glee club, Rachel was more than aware that he had a talent that almost effortlessly rivaled her own. He had lead them to victory in all the three years that he had been in Vocal Adrenaline which meant that he was a senior and very likely preparing himself to win one last time before he went off to college.

"Shouldn't take too long with you then," Quinn remarked lightly, a touch of teasing in her tone.

The smaller girl nodded, oblivious to the harmless ridicule. "Do you think that he- hey! Was that  _ another _ one of your remarks about my stature?" Rachel huffed, retreating her arm from around Quinn to cross it with her other arm, giving the blonde a withering glare. She saw Quinn opening her mouth to respond but was interrupted when they heard a throat clearing behind them, calling their attention.

Both girls turned around coming face to face with the male lead of Vocal Adrenaline standing with his thumbs in his jean pockets and a smug look plastered on his face. "Rachel Berry," were his first words to them, his voice deep, strong and controlled though his blue eyes betrayed his amusement.

"Jesse St. James," Rachel replied, haughtily lifting her chin and arching her eyebrow at him.

Quinn felt her eyes rolling at the scene in front of her that she  _ swore _ must have been born straight out of a really bad Western. The only thing missing from this showdown was tumbleweed rolling by.

The three teenagers were standing silently with Quinn looking on as Rachel and Jesse were in a locked stare until Jesse broke the exchange, noticing the sheet book in Rachel's hand. "Lionel Richie, huh? One of my favorites," he said, snatching the book and started to leaf through the pages. "You know, I saw you perform at Sectionals," he casually told her before looking back up to meet her stare, grinning to see surprise in them. "Your rendition of  _ Don't Rain on My Parade _ was flawed. You  _ totally _ lack Barbras's emotional depth," he continued, his grin widening at the fiery indignation in her brown eyes. He raked his sharp blue eyes over her face, a smirk in place as he delivered his final line, knowing that it would completely floor her, "But you're talented." As he moved away, he congratulated himself when her eyes fluttered in surprise and her cheeks flushed a crimson red.

Quinn clenched her fists, restraining herself from smacking the boy into oblivion when she saw Rachel actually blush from his compliment. On any other given day, she would find Rachel ridiculously adorable for getting so flustered but the fact that it was because of him, Quinn really just had a strong desire to grab the girl and get the hell out of here, away from the wandering eyes of Jesse St. James. His interest in Rachel was so sickeningly blatant and it wasn’t sitting very well with her or her baby, as the hard kicks to her stomach indicated, that Rachel didn’t look like she was preparing herself to reject his advances. Her heart wrenched as she watched Rachel actually  _ following _ him, weaving around the book shelves as he prattled on about scoring a full ride to some college in L.A. and Quinn could only scoff at his nauseatingly conceited tone.

She started to make her way towards them but stopped in her tracks when Jesse sat down at the piano bench, indicating for Rachel to join him. Dread filled her when she heard the beginning notes of  _ Hello _ coming from the piano. The feeling grew when Jesse began to sing and Quinn shrunk inside herself a little bit. His voice was  _ beautiful _ and she knew that Rachel thought so too when the smaller brunette's dark brown glazed over and she was looking at Jesse like she recognized something in him that she really, really liked. When Rachel's voice joined his for the next verse, Quinn closed her eyes, cursing herself for thinking what a divine harmony they made together. The chemistry between the two aspiring singers was palpable and practically tangible. The murmurs going around the small crowd that was watching them let her know that she wasn’t alone in thinking that.

Quinn was so incensed, watching Jesse put the moves on Rachel that she didn’t even notice when Puck sidled up next to her, startling her out of her fury, "Hey baby mama."

"Get that girl's number did you?" she asked bitterly, her eyes still intensely trained on the two singers at the piano, trying to bore a massive hole into Jesse St. James' head. Her insecurities were fading into the distance and now, she wanted nothing more than to march over there and wipe that annoying smirk off his face just so he knew to keep the hell away from Rachel. She would rather subject herself to Mr. Schuester's rapping before she let some douche take Rachel away like he was the freaking Pied Piper.

"Duh. Was there ever any doubt?" Puck crowed proudly, a smug grin on his lips as he popped his collar. When Quinn didn’t respond, he followed her gaze to see Rachel and some guy singing together. His eyebrow arched curiously at the scene in front of them. "Who's the hairpiece?" Puck didn’t miss Quinn growling in response and glaring at the guy and Puck's pretty sure that if looks could kill, whoever that dude was, he would have been dust by now.

"Jesse St. James from Vocal Adrenaline," she managed to say through clenched teeth.

"And why is Berry singing with him?"

Quinn shook her head, grumbling, "I don't know. One minute he was introducing himself, and then next thing I know, he's dragging her to the piano." Her breath hitched when Rachel actually took a seat next to Jesse, disbelief coursing through her. She didn’t know why she was so surprised to see Rachel fall under his spell. Who  _ wouldn't _ melt when a cute guy sung to you? And then, despite the turbulence happening inside her, Quinn felt her baby begin to kick when Rachel took the next line.

_ And tell you time and time again _ _  
_ _ how much I care _

Puck noticed her looking down at her stomach and he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "What's wrong?"

She looked up to meet his concerned eyes, gave him a watery smile and shook her head. "It's nothing. It's just the baby kicking," she told him. She placed a hand over her bump, feeling the reassuring thuds from her baby.

He reached his hand out but stopped, knowing very well that Quinn really hated it when people just took liberties and put their hands on her stomach to feel the baby, especially after one incident where she nearly broke some girl's fingers. "Can I?" he asked meekly. When Quinn nodded, his hand rushed forward to press against her belly. His dark hazel eyes widened in awe, a proud smile on his lips as he swallowed the lump in his throat. This was  _ his _ baby girl and she was  _ so _ close. It had been more than seven months and it all still felt so unreal to him. At a particularly hard kick, he pulled his hand back. "Damn. Her legs are  _ killer _ . Does she always kick like that?"

Quinn hesitated, worrying at her bottom lip, "Not always. Just..." She trailed off, sighing as she stared pointedly at the still singing brunette.

"Just when Rachel sings," Puck finished with a nod, understanding in his dark eyes.

The pregnant blonde smiled softly, nodding her head once. "Yeah. She really likes it," she said, gently stroking her stomach.

"More like she fucking loves it," he stated, smirking unapologetically and completely ignoring the reprimanding look on Quinn's face. Right then and there, he made a decision, "If we're going to give her away, we have to make sure that those people can sing, or at least, really likes music," he paused when Quinn looked at him in surprise and he shrugged, "What? I'm trying to be this new thing called a 'supportive friend'."

Quinn rewarded him with a bright smile. "Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Whatever you need, Princess, I'm here for you, okay? And if you want to talk about the baby or about Berry-"

"Why would I want to talk to you about Rachel?" she asked lightly, a touch of nervousness in her tone.

Puck shook his head. "No reason. It was just a 'for instance' type thing," he mumbled quickly. "Anyway, if you want to talk, just call me. I'm not always good with the advice, or even the listening part, but I'll bring dip. And dip always makes everything better."

Quinn chuckled at his simple solution to solving problems. She thought that there was more to his offer, that he knew  _ something _ and was waiting for her to say it. She had a feeling that when he mentioned Rachel, it wasn't a 'for instance' type thing at all. But she ignored it for now and just gave him a small smile, grateful to have another friend by her side. She knew that Puck had feelings for her but was good enough to understand that she didn’t feel the same way. "Thanks Puck."

He shrugged. "Yeah, it's no big," he said reassuringly. He returned his attention to the singing duo and smirks. "Sounds like they're almost done. Want to go crash their party before they start singing show tunes?"

The blonde smiled hesitantly, looking over at Rachel who was clearly enjoying the duet. Her smile grew though, seeing Rachel so happy and looking so breathtaking as she lost herself in the music. Her face instantly transformed into a dark scowl when she caught Jesse's eyes that were completely glued on Rachel. "It looks like he's getting ready to ask her out once they finish singing."

Puck nudged Quinn forward, making her move towards the piano. "Come on Fabray. Where's that fighting spirit that used to get me so hot and bothered?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at him. "You're disgusting," she spat out, rolling her eyes once again when he tried to give her a charming smile.

"That's why you're having my baby," he replied, throwing an arm around Quinn and ignored her when she giggled and hit him on the chest as he walked them both to Rachel and Jesse.

_ Tell me how to win your heart _ _  
_ _ for I haven't got a clue _

Oblivious to Jesse's meaningful stares in her direction, Rachel's stomach twisted painfully in jealousy when she happened to look up and saw Noah placing an arm around Quinn's shoulder as the blonde punched the taller boy on the chest and laughed merrily at his pout. She sighed, hoping to release the green-monster into the air. It annoyed her, these spurts of jealousy that she got because there was nothing she could do but just feel them. It wasn’t the first time she was even experiencing these stormy feelings inside, especially since Noah had recently taken to spending more time with them, hoping to form a bond with his unborn child. And it wasn't that he was unwelcomed but his presence just reminded her of the bond that he already did share with Quinn. Rachel didn’t know how she was supposed to ever compete with that.

She set her gaze back to Jesse as he sung the final three words of the song and she immediately blushed under his intense stare. In the corner of her eye, she could see that Noah and Quinn had arrived and was about to say something to them when Jesse cut her off and surprised her yet again, "We should do this more often. How's Friday night?"

\---

While driving on the way home, Rachel realized then that Quinn hadn’t said a word since they left the mall. Come to think of it, Quinn hadn’t said much of anything since they left the music store. She spared a concerned glance to the pregnant blonde sitting in the seat next to her. Quinn seemed lost in thought, but didn’t seem upset so Rachel canceled out the little bubble of worry that there might be something wrong. "Penny for your thoughts, Miss Fabray?" she asked.

Quinn turned to see Rachel with a teasing smile playing across her lips. She sighed, not wanting to ask but she just really needed to know, "Are you going to go out with him?"

The brunette frowned. "Go out with whom? Jesse?"

"Yes, Jesse St. James, our 'arch-nemesis'," Quinn dryly reminded her, using air-quotes to mock Rachel's histrionic label for the Vocal Adrenaline male lead.

Rachel chuckled at Quinn's ribbing and shook her head. "No, of course I'm not going to go out with him. I hope that we don't need to bring you to see a doctor to check your hearing, Quinn, since you  _ were _ standing nearby when I declined his offer," the brunette jokingly reminded her. Rachel had to choke back her giggles when Jesse actually gaped at her, completely flabbergasted when she told him no. She assumed that he didn't hear that word very often and it gave her a little proud feeling that she actually managed to do that to him. Though to his credit, he was a gentleman once he collected himself.

_ When Jesse looked at her in horror after her reply, Rachel fumbled to apologize, "I'm really sorry Jesse. It's just that-" she trailed off, not wanting to say that the very reason she said no, when the reason was also standing very close by. Her brown eyes were pleading with him to not make her finish that sentence. _

_ A look of understanding crossed his face and he nodded, waving off her apology. "There's already somebody," he finished for her in soft whisper. _

_ Rachel snuck a look in the corner of her eye and saw Quinn not very subtly trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. "Yes, there is," she whispered in return. _

_There was a look in his blue eyes that Rachel couldn't decipher as if he knew something_ _that she didn't. He quickly glanced over at Quinn and Rachel had a thought that maybe he did know why she said no. There was a look of disappointment in his eyes, though there was something else that Rachel didn't understand. But then he shrugged, letting_ _her know that he was fine. "Well, whoever it is, I hope they know how lucky they are," he said as he moved away from the piano bench to stand. He gave a slight bow before giving Rachel his best smile. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Rachel Berry. And it was an even bigger pleasure to sing with you."_

_ Rachel showed him her own best smile and nodded. "The same goes to you, Jesse St. James. It was nice to perform with a talent that almost equals mine," she replied. _

_He chuckled at her self-praise. "I'll see you_ _at Regionals, Rachel," he said, nodding at Quinn as he strutted away from them._

The blonde was shocked when Jesse had the balls to ask Rachel out in front of her and Puck. She really thought that once they were there, Jesse would change his mind but their presence apparently just spurred him on. She actually had to turn and hide her relief when she heard Rachel said no to him. Quinn held in the sigh of contentment and chuckled instead. "I know. I did hear you. It's just that it wouldn't be the first time you fell under the spell of a ballad. And he really seemed to like you."

Rachel didn’t get many chances to meet another person her age that seemed to share the same drive and ambition as she did. If anything, it was nice to know that there was somebody who could very easily understand her struggles. Rachel knew that Jesse inherently  _ got _ that Lima was just too small a place for either of them. But it was because of their similarities that Rachel knew nothing more could come of this. Jesse was basically, well,  _ her _ in a male body.

Perhaps in time, she would have the same confidence oozing out of her every pore just like it did with him. While she could certainly admit that she had indeed fallen under the sway of the ballad, her heart didn't race when she stared into his ocean blue eyes and her mind didn't wander to dream about what it would be like to be with him, to love him and to be loved by him. She knew that the only reason he was even paying any real attention on her was because of her voice and really, Rachel was totally fine with that.

The brunette let out a small huff of annoyance. "Okay first, I have learned my lesson and how long are you going to keep teasing me about my lapse in judgment with Mr. Schue? And second, he is in our  _ rival _ team. You might not have a problem with it and I can't imagine why you wouldn't, but I'm pretty sure that Kurt and Mercedes will most definitely have a problem with it," she paused, braking slowly when they reached a stop sign and looking sideways for any approaching cars before driving forward when there weren’t any, "And while I can certainly entertain the idea of living out my fantasy of pursuing a Romeo and Juliet romance with Jesse, and even though we do sing breathtakingly well together; I don't actually want to give them more reason to hate me."

Quinn held up a fist, unfolding a finger to answer Rachel's first question, "The Mr. Schue thing has  _ endless _ mileage, so forever." She unfolded a second finger up to succinctly counter the brunette's second point, "And they don't hate you." And yes, she most certainly  _ did _ have a problem with some guy thinking that he could encroach on her Rachel-time, Quinn thought to herself.

"Well they sure don't like me much either," Rachel murmured almost bitterly.

"But they  _ do _ like you," Quinn argued adamantly.

Rachel sighed and then nodded. "I can acquiesce that yes, they have been significantly nicer and friendlier since Sectionals, but they're not exactly calling me to have a girls' day with them, are they?"

"I'm not seeing what this has anything to do with you not going out with Jesse."

The smaller brunette frowned, dubious of Quinn's curiosity. "Why are you being so pushy about this?"

The blonde shrugged while attempting to put on an air of indifference so Rachel didn’t see  _ exactly _ why. "I don't know. I just want to see you happy," she mumbled, as she traced random patterns on her stomach. Despite the fact that Quinn didn’t actually like the guy, it wasn’t like she could ban Rachel from seeing him if she wanted to do so. Even though the thought hurt her more than anything she had ever felt before, all Quinn wanted was for Rachel to have everything she wanted. Rachel's hand grabbing hers to interlace their fingers together broke Quinn out of her thoughts. She looked to see Rachel with her eyes trained on the road but a reassuring smile on her lips.

"Quinn, I've told you this before already. I  _ am _ happy," the brunette asserted softly, emphasizing her words by gently squeezing the hand in hers. She had never been more thankful that her car was an automatic not a manual, glad that she just needed the one hand on the steering wheel for now.

Quinn sighed, feeling a little calm from Rachel's touch. "But you could be  _ happier _ ," she told her, heaving Rachel's hand to rest on her baby bump. "Just tell me the real reason you don't want to go out with him, because I sure as hell know that even if Mercedes and Kurt have a problem, if you truly wanted it, you'd still find a way."

"I am rather tenacious, aren't I?" Rachel smirked proudly, earning a glare from the blonde beside her.

Quinn lightly pinched Rachel's hand. "Berry, this is so  _ not _ the time to start waxing poetic about yourself," she snapped. Her thumb begun to lightly caress the area of tanned skin that she pinched. "Is it about Finn?" she asked softly.

"What? No, of course not," Rachel scoffed. "I've told you that I don't have feelings for him anymore. I haven't in a very long time."

Even though Rachel did tell her this already, Quinn still couldn’t help but feel a little relieved. She was slightly worried about it, especially after Finn and Rachel seemed to be on the way to reconciling. But Quinn was pretty sure that she was always going to feel a little insecure anyway when it came to having Finn in Rachel's life.

"Puck?"

Rachel gave her an incredulous look. "Okay,  _ now _ you're being utterly ridiculous. While Noah and I do share a certain...  _ Physical _ chemistry, any feelings I have of him now are mainly familial. As in, I think of him as a big brother."

The blonde wrinkled her nose in horror at Rachel's statement. "A big brother that you made out with a few times before." Quinn didn’t really like hearing about  _ any _ sort of chemistry that Rachel shared with the father of her child but still, that was just disturbing on so many incestuous levels.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the blonde. "Did you  _ have _ to put it that way?" she asked, chuckling at the terrified look on Quinn's face.

"I didn't  _ have _ to. I was going by what  _ you _ said," Quinn bantered, valiantly trying to get the image of Puck and Rachel  _ together _ out of her head.

"Fine. So what if we made out? You did too," Rachel pointed out as she pulled her hand out of Quinn's grasp to pat her swollen stomach and reminded her of what happened after the aforementioned 'making out'.

Quinn pouted. "Low blow, Berry."

Rachel returned her hand to thread their fingers together, her thumb stroking the back of Quinn's hand in apology. "I just don't understand why you want to know so much about why I don't want to date Jesse."

"I just want to know why you're turning down the chance to go out with somebody who seems to truly like you," the blonde explained honestly. "I just, want to know, Rach."

Quinn sighed in disappointment when the diva took her hand back to brush through her hair, looking deep in thought. When Rachel hadn’t said a word after awhile, Quinn burrowed into her seat, worried that she had upset the girl. She wished that she could just tell Rachel that the reason she wanted to know was so that she knew for sure that Rachel said no to Jesse because she truly didn’t want him and not because of some lame obstacles that didn’t really matter in the long run. She wanted to know because even though she wanted Rachel to have everything she wants; Quinn very selfishly didn’t want it to be with Jesse, Puck or Finn.  _ She _ wanted to be the one to give Rachel everything that she wanted and she knew that she couldn’t go on being silent about how she felt for the brunette for very much longer. She was going to have to do something about it before somebody else came along that Rachel would definitely want. Quinn just wished that she knew where to start.

The rest of the drive home was silent and the only sound came from the radio. When Rachel was done parking in the driveway, she unbuckled her seat belt and shifted her position to face the blonde who was anxiously looking forward and into the house. There was a sad pout on her lips and Rachel realized that Quinn must be feeling guilty. Rachel really wasn’t angry at her. She just didn't know what to say. Because how  _ could _ she tell Quinn that the reason she didn’t feel anything for any of those boys was because anything and everything that she  _ had _ been feeling thus far was for the girl in front of her? How could she tell her without also letting her know at the same time?

There had been times when Rachel found herself wanting to tell Quinn and the words were on the tip of her tongue but fear inevitably stopped her. She didn’t want to lose Quinn or alienate her should the blonde actually reject her. Rachel bit down on her lip as she focused on Quinn's swollen stomach. The blonde was already dealing with so much, losing her family and her home, losing her reputation at school and Rachel didn’t want to add on to that. She just wanted to be there for Quinn. Her dark brown eyes moved up from the blonde's hands on her stomach up to her full lips and sharp hazel eyes that she always felt seem to pierce right through her, capturing her heart every time she was blessed to have their attention on her. Her gaze tracked every whimsical curve of luxurious blonde hair that she had come to love spending hours brushing her fingers through whenever they were in her room and on her bed, watching a movie together.

"You are beautiful, Quinn," she blurted out, shocking the blonde out of her stupor.

"Thank, you?" she replied unsurely, her cheeks blushing and her heart skipping a few beats at Rachel's sincere words.

Rachel gulped nervously, her heart squeezing painfully as Quinn was earnestly looking back at her but soldiered on, "Anybody who sees you, they know that you are beautiful. Because you really, truly are. Especially now with that pregnant glow that you still think is a myth. To paraphrase the words of Angela Chase, it truly does hurt to look at you," she whispered, smiling affectionately when the blonde blushed even further from her words.

Quinn knew that as the former popular girl in school and former Head Cheerio, she was the one that everybody wanted. She was the one they called 'hot', 'pretty' and 'damn fine'. She remembered Rachel telling her once that she was beautiful but that was at Sectionals and Quinn always thought that the diva said it just to reassure her. But to have Rachel say it again and hearing that note of reverence in her voice, Quinn  _ felt _ beautiful. "Rach-" she started to say but stopped when she realized that Rachel wasn't done.

"I've heard some flattering things about me but mostly? Not very nice things. I know that I shouldn't care what people say. For the most part, I don't, not really anyway. And I know that I'm a fairly decent person and I'm not hugely unattractive. But I guess that I just want there to be somebody, who is neither one of my dads who is  _ supposed _ to say these things nor my friends who I'm sure would feel obligated to say something complimentary, somebody who is willing to look past my abrasive and somewhat self-obsessed personality and see me – the  _ real _ me – and say that, to them,  _ I _ am beautiful."

"That is honestly why I'm not interested in going out with Jesse. I know that when he sees me, all he really feels is the harmony of my voice with his," Rachel added before breaking their stare to peer down at her wringing fingers. She just  _ had _ to look away. Quinn's deep stare was piercing right through her again, making her heart beat far too rapidly and far too loudly in her ears. Her next words were important but Rachel didn’t really know why and there was something inside her that was compelling her to say them.

The air was thick and both girls seemed to recognize the intensity of the moment but both were far too afraid to acknowledge it.

Quinn's breath caught in her throat, caught by surprise when Rachel suddenly tangled their fingers together. Her pulse raced under the magnitude of the tension between them and all she seemed to hear right now was the thunderous thuds of her own heart beating against her chest. There was a hidden meaning in the dark chocolate pools that Quinn desperately wanted to discover but she decided to wait patiently as Rachel took in a steadying breath.

"I want somebody who sees me, and all they feel, is the harmony of our hearts beating together," the brunette said softly, a deep yearning echoing in her voice.

And as Rachel's final words reverberated silently in her car, the girls found themselves locked in a deep, searching stare, unknowingly trying to uncover secrets and hidden desires that neither realize they share. It wasn’t until Rachel's dad was knocking on the car window some time later and after they got out of the car and into the house that they realized: something was changing between them.

\---

Finn walked in the music room the following day during lunch period to find Rachel standing over the piano, one arm folded underneath her as she leaned closely over papers that were spread out on top of the instrument. His entrance was noisy enough to alert the tiny diva of a new presence in the room. When Rachel smiled, realizing that it was him, Finn responded with his trademark crooked grin. Without sparing another thought, Finn immediately went to sit on the piano bench next to the diva. "Hey Rach," he said quietly, earning a bright smile from the brunette before she returned her attention back to her papers. "Are you going through your song for Glee?" he asked. He saw her nodding absently to his question, her concentration still mostly on scribbling notes.

Finn took a second to look around the room and saw Quinn with her head down, listening to her iPod, Brittany and Santana sitting up on the risers, talking quietly. The brunette Cheerio somehow felt his roaming gaze and met it. Finn braced himself to receive a scathing glare but Santana just curled her top lip into a sneer and crossed her arms, leaning back against her chair before rolling her eyes at him then turning to resume talking to her girlfriend. Finn knew that it was just about the friendliest acknowledgement that he was ever going to get from the girl and he happily took it.

Completely oblivious to a certain pregnant blonde's narrow-eyed glare at his proximity to the small brunette, Finn leaned down to ask quietly, "So how come they're sitting so far away? I thought you girls were attached at the hip or something."

Rachel chuckled indulgently at Finn's comment, not really surprised by it as it wasn’t the first time somebody had mentioned something to that effect. She didn’t blame people for thinking that really. She was very aware that the majority of the student body perceived her and Quinn (and to some extension, Brittany and Santana) to be almost inseparable. Even more so now since Quinn especially, had taken to waiting outside of Rachel's classes if her own happened to be nearby. Warmth spread throughout her body every time she walked out of a room and met Quinn's bright hazel eyes and charming smile. And it was a habit that Rachel quickly became addicted to as she had never had anybody who voluntarily did that for her.

Her dark eyes flicked up to quickly glance at the three girls sitting some distance away from them, letting out another chuckle when she spied Quinn glaring at a smirking Santana, guessing that the Latina was teasing the blonde about something, again. "Quinn is working on her own song for the Glee assignment," she began to explain, "and Brittany and Santana are there because Santana says I'm annoying in diva mode. Personally, I think she finds it more amusing to annoy Quinn as I am now immune to her badgering."

Even though he didn’t think that he would ever really understand how the relationship between Rachel and Santana actually worked, Finn chuckled and nodded along anyway. Puck had come over to his house last night, telling him about the trip to the music store with the girls and since then, there were things he needed to know. "So," he started, attempting nonchalance, "Puck told me you guys met some dude from Vocal Adrenaline?"

Rachel nodded absently as she jotted down another note. "Yes, Jesse St. James is the male lead. He is a very gifted singer." She stopped her writing and put down her pencil when her mind processed something, and looked up at the boy, "You and Noah are talking again?" she asked, a hint of a smile playing on her lips, hoping that the two former best friends might be on their way to reconciling.

Finn shrugged. "It's nothing major," he told her. "He came over last night and we played some games... talked a little bit," he murmured.

The small brunette nodded, accepting his answer and diligently went back to her notes. It was going to take a while before Finn's friendship with Noah returned to its former glory. Though it wouldn’t really be the same as it was, but she was certain that once they did move on from this, their friendship would be stronger than ever.

"Anyway, I heard  _ Jesse _ asked you out," he added, unable to hide his disdain when saying the male lead's name.

Her hand paused in the middle of writing and Rachel snuck a cautious glance at Finn, recognizing the jealous tone that his voice had taken when saying Jesse's name. "And I turned him down," she replied slowly.

"You did?" he asked, unfolding his fists, belatedly realizing that they had started to clench and his chest heaved with an inaudible sigh of relief. When Rachel looked up at him, arching a questioning eyebrow up at him, he mumbled sheepishly, "I kinda stopped listening after Puck said that the guy asked you out." He knew that he didn’t have the right to be jealous but he couldn’t help it anyway. While he might be okay with them trying to be friends, his heart was slower to accept it and still carried a yearning for the smaller brunette. "Why did you turn him down? From the way Puck put it, it sounded like he was your perfect guy or something."

Rachel smiled ruefully. "He and I are far too much alike for us to be anything more than acquaintances." She didn’t know why people, Finn and Quinn apparently, seemed to think that just because somebody shared her interests and her drive, it meant that they were perfect for her. But in a way, she understood that it was what they  _ thought _ she would want. Who better to achieve her dreams with than the person who shared them too, right? It would be  _ so _ easy. But Rachel was never equipped for easy. She shifted her gaze away from Finn, looking for the blonde that had unknowingly made everything so complicated. Staring at Quinn as the blonde paid close attention to whatever Santana was saying to her. When a tinge of pink coloured Quinn's lovely features, Rachel felt her own cheeks begin to warm over and her lips were curving up into a smile as her eyes remained on her friend.

Her friend, impregnated by a friend who was  _ also _ another friend's ex.

Complicated and yet, there was no doubt in Rachel's mind that she would ever want it any other way.

Finn took in Rachel's soft grin and followed its direction, though somehow knowing already who the recipient of that longing stare was (and it definitely was neither the brunette nor the blonde decked in red and white), and he remembered the something that had been circling his brain for awhile now, ever since that day Quinn told him about the baby and finding out that Rachel had known the whole time. He shifted in his seat uneasily as his mouth opened and closed several times, trying to think of ways to phrase it without sounding like a moron. "Does-" he stopped for a moment, swallowing thickly, and he leaned even closer to her, asking so softly that Rachel could just barely hear his question, "does Quinn have anything to do with why you said no?"

Rachel's head suddenly whipped back to him and Finn leaned back, spluttering in surprise when he got whipped in the face by her flying brunette locks. She smiled apologetically and tucked the loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "What do you mean?" she asked shakily, her heart beginning to beat in trepidation when Finn looked at her calmly and somewhat knowingly, in a way that reminded her of how Brittany looked at her when she first asked Rachel about her feelings towards Quinn.

Finn took in a deep, steadying breath as he stared at her, "Since finding out about the baby, I decided that I need to pay closer attention to what is happening around me," he explained.

"And?" she urged, lowering herself on the piano bench, finding herself with the need to sit down.

"And," he sighed, seeing the nervous brown gaze. He really didn’t actually  _ want _ to know the answers to the questions that were present in his mind and from the look on Rachel's face, he was pretty sure that she wasn’t even ready for this conversation. But if these past few weeks had taught him anything, it was that it was better in the long run, to get things out as soon as possible. "I've seen some things that I probably never would have noticed before," he answered vaguely. "And I  _ know _ you know exactly what I mean, Rachel."

Rachel frowned, swiftly averting her eyes to escape the weight of Finn's discerning stare, looking down at her abandoned music sheets.

Finn waited for her to acknowledge him. After seconds passed and she still hadn’t, he sighed, "What's going on between you two, Rach?"

"I don't know," she mumbled, anxiously biting down on her lip. "I mean, there's  _ nothing _ going on between Quinn and me," she quickly interjected, wanting to take back her words.

"You know, for someone who wants to be on Broadway to act for a living, you're kind of a bad liar.”

"I'm not lying!" she whisper-yelled indignantly. Technically, it  _ wasn’t _ a lie. There really  _ wasn’t _ anything going on between her and Quinn, despite her deeply-buried wishes that there was. And how  _ dare _ he insinuate that she couldn’t act? She was about to give him a piece of her mind when he placed a hand on her wrist.

"Rach, I'm your friend, right?"

The brunette held back a grunt, her annoyance melting completely when Finn gave her a sincere look, showing her that he really meant no harm, though she was a  _ little _ peeved that he was using the 'friend' card on her. "Yes," she muttered through clenched teeth, crossing her arms as she mildy glared at Finn.

Only barely managing to hide his amused chuckle because seriously, Rachel was all kinds of adorable when she was fuming, Finn lightly squeezed her hand. "Then talk to me," he lightly begged, his thumb tenderly stroking the skin on the inside of her wrist.

Most, if not all, of Rachel's hesitance came from the fact that this was  _ Finn _ . A boy that she knew was still fighting his feelings to get over Quinn. But he was also still her friend. The first person to actually befriend her in school and Rachel somehow felt like she owed it to him. If anything, she knew that he would listen. She peered down at their hands in her lap, at how his big hand completely covered her own smaller one. There was comfort, tenderness, and there was warmth. But it was nothing like having Quinn's hand in hers. Rachel sighed, nodding acquiescingly.

"Tell me about her."

Rachel pulled her hand away to brush through her hair and looked to the distance; to the captivating blonde sitting across the room. As if she could feel her, Quinn's head shot up, her eyes locking immediately with Rachel's dark chocolate ones and Rachel found herself drowning in the deep swirls of brown, yellow and green.

\---

She saw him entering the room before Rachel did; saw his face lighting up instantly at the sight of the small brunette; saw him paying little to no mind to the other occupants of the room, ambling straightaway to sit by Rachel's side. Quinn fought down the jealousy that rose, watching the easy smile that arrived on Rachel's face in response to Finn's presence. It wasn’t that she thought Rachel still wanted Finn. The diva made it very clear yesterday that she thought of him only as a friend and Finn seemed to be accepting it as well, but still, did he  _ have _ to sit so close when there was a  _ perfectly _ good chair right beside the piano?  _ She _ should be there, making Rachel smile and laugh like that. She should be the one who-

"Stare any harder and Shrek's head is going to explode." Quinn jumped slightly, startled by the voice cutting off her thoughts in its tracks. She growled under her breath then turned to send a withering glare at Santana who only smirked at her in return. "What? You were mooning over Berry again and I was starting to lose my lunch just watching you."

"Then why are you still watching?" the blonde asked.

Santana shrugged. "I'm a masochist, apparently," she replied dryly. "So, why haven't you done anything yet?"

The pregnant blonde gave her an incredulous look. "Weren't  _ you _ the one that said to me that I  _ shouldn't _ try anything with her?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Q, you and I both know that you'd sooner dropkick me into the Atlantic before listening to me telling you to  _ not _ do something," she paused when Quinn let out a snort of agreement, "and anyway, you haven't done anything to screw up whatever deal you've got going with the midget so far, so you know, you have my permission to do whatever. God speed and all that," she finished, waving her hands in Rachel's direction only to have Quinn slap them down in a panic so as to not alert the smaller brunette. The blonde sighed in relief when Rachel didn’t look their way.

"I can't tell you how much that means to me, Santana, to have your blessing to go after a girl who is of no relation to you whatsoever," Quinn deadpanned, warranting another eye-roll from the brunette. And yet she mulled over Santana's "blessing" and how she was thinking the same thing yesterday anyway when she and Rachel were in the car. She really wanted to- no,  _ needed _ to do something. She needed to tell Rachel how she felt, that  _ she _ wanted to be Rachel's somebody. Feeling a wave of insecurity taking over her as she watched Rachel conversing easily with Finn, "What if she doesn't feel the same way?" she quietly asked Santana, flinching when the brunette loudly groaned at her question.

The brunette's dark brown eyes were filled with disbelief as they stared into the vulnerable hazel eyes of her former Head Cheerio. "Seriously Q, do you  _ not _ see the way she is with you?" Santana grunted impatiently when Quinn's eyebrows furrowed into a confused frown. "It's disgustingly sweet, that's what it is. And then there's the way that you two act around each other?" she paused to make sure the blonde was paying attention. "You're basically girlfriends," pausing once again, this time for effect, " _ without _ the benefits," she finished with a lascivious smirk that deepened when Quinn's cheeks blushed a crimson red.

Quinn couldn’t help but wonder though. Sure, Rachel was amazingly sweet with her, with the way she looked after Quinn and her baby's needs but Quinn had discovered that Rachel was like that with everybody. It was a side of Rachel that not many noticed due to their unwillingness to see past her abrasive nature. If only they could see what she finally allowed herself to see and that was that Rachel Berry was one of the best friends you could ever have.

The next point to come to mind was that, Rachel didn’t call anybody else 'babe' or any other endearing nicknames. Didn’t tenderly press her hand to anybody else's face like she did with Quinn. Didn’t touch anybody else as easily as she did with Quinn. While the blonde might not notice or realize just how exactly Rachel looked at her, she wasn’t too oblivious to not notice that their physical interaction seemed to come as effortlessly as breathing.

Could it really be true? Could Rachel  _ really _ feel the same way? It was almost too good to be real. How could somebody like Rachel want her? Why  _ would _ she, even?

"You should just go and tell her that you love her."

Her head snapped up to meet Brittany's resolute blue eyes, surprised by the girl's frank statement. She didn't realize that Brittany had been listening in on their conversation. "I- I don't know if I can call it  _ that _ ," Quinn stuttered nervously, feeling a little caught off-guard by the taller blonde's interruption.

Brittany frowned, her baby blues coated in confusion. "Then what would you call it?" she asked because really, what  _ else _ could it be?

"Really, really,  _ really _ intense... 'like'," she trailed off, wincing instantly because even  _ she _ could hear the weakness of her excuse.

Santana chuckled and rolled her eyes at the pregnant girl. "Oh yeah, 'cause that is  _ so _ much different," she replied sarcastically, deciding to let this conversation go for now. Obviously Quinn needed just a little bit more time to grow the ovaries to make a move on their resident diva and Santana Lopez was most definitely  _ not _ a meddler. If Quinn wanted to be an idiot and shuffle around aimlessly, denying just how wet her panties got because of one Rachel Barbra Berry, then that was her deal. The current Head Cheerio had done her part in giving the pregnant blonde a gentle nudge; any more nudging and people were going to start thinking she cared or something equally insane.

The girl in question snuck another glance at Rachel and Finn, noticing from their solemn faces that whatever conversation she was having with Finn had taken a serious turn as Rachel was wearing a sad frown. It made Quinn's heart ache, made her wish that she could just rush down to hold the smaller girl and make whatever pain she was feeling go away. And to also smack Finn upside his big head for making that look even appear on the girl's face.

Quinn sighed, turning her attention back to her iPod. Unbeknownst to Rachel, Quinn had actually already chosen her song. As soon as Rachel finished saying what she had to say in the car yesterday, Quinn  _ knew _ what her song was going to be.

The sound of a guitar playing lulled her to a calmer state and she dipped her head down, closing her eyes as she listened to an easygoing voice singing the lyrics to her. She pressed a hand down on her belly when her baby started to kick. The thuds suddenly increased in pressure, a familiar sensation that only happened when a certain somebody was either approaching or looking at her. Quinn blinked open her eyes and she leaned back in her chair, taken slightly by surprise when she instantly met a mahogany stare focused solely on her. She didn’t know why Rachel was looking over at her in such a way that made her feel like the brunette was searching for something but Quinn returned the stare anyway, more than willing to surrender what it was that Rachel was trying to find. As Rachel's eyes continued to bore right into her, the blonde couldn't deny the rising heat in her cheeks, the shudder coursing through her body and the wild racing of her heart. All things telling her that this was more than just an intense 'like'.

\---

A few moments passed by before Rachel finally broke the stare, lowering her eyes to her hands on her lap and she sighed, her voice was soft and shaky, like she was trying to catch her breath, "We have these moments together, just like that one and there is  _ something _ in the air between us that I can't find the right words to describe. And I feel this... connection to her, and it's so  _ piercingly _ deep like it's trying to settle inside my bones – inside every part of me – and sometimes, I think I can actually  _ feel _ her."

Breathless, Finn found himself ill-prepared and completely unable to bear the sheer weight of Rachel's quiet confession. He couldn’t even find the words to say anything because this was clearly way out of his depth. A part of him had expected it and yet he discovered that he just wasn’t ready to hear something of that magnitude from her. His heart wrenched painfully in jealousy that he knew he didn’t have the right to feel. He wasn’t even sure whom this jealousy was directed towards, maybe it was one or the other, or even  _ both _ of the girls, simply because they had each other and he was left in the dust.

Still focusing on her wringing hands and oblivious to Finn's struggle, Rachel continued, "I have never known that something like this can exist between two people, something so strong and powerful, especially when those two people happen to be Quinn Fabray and myself. But she has changed so much from the Quinn we used to know. And she has changed me too," she paused thoughtfully, realizing that the boy hadn’t actually said anything and she looked up at him, unnerved by the distraught look on his face, "Finn, are you okay?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip in between her teeth.

Finn shook his head, taking in a steadying breath. He met her concerned brown eyes and gave her a crooked desolate grin, "We never really had a chance, did we?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. There was no other way to say it, nothing more that he  _ could _ say and he was pretty sure that anything else that would spill out of his lips now would just probably come out as a wrangled sob or something equally horrifying. Resentment, anger,  _ pain _ . They all swirled around in the pit of his stomach, bubbling underneath the surface of his skin. If this had been weeks ago, he would have retaliated by now. In his mind's eye, he could easily see his reaction if he had gone by instinct. The chaos that he alone could cause because of this...  _ hurt _ . His hands clenched and unclenched, sometimes tightly gripping the top of his thighs, trying to rid himself of the tension that was rapidly burrowing its way inside him. He breathed in deep and exhaled long and harsh, trying to alleviate the stinging in his heart.

Rachel searched the expression on Finn's face and her breath hitched, realizing too late how difficult this conversation might be for the boy. It wasn’t just the fact that Finn still had to wrestle with the feelings he had for Quinn, but also the feelings he had for her because even if nothing actually happened between them and nothing was ever going to happen, didn't mean those feelings never existed or that they just magically disappeared just because they decided to be friends. She berated herself for being so self-obsessed that she didn't see her own friend's suffering, the casualty of her feelings for the girl who used to be his. Guilt washed over, overwhelming her to the point that she felt tears clouding her vision. "No. I don't think we ever did," she conceded, hoping that he could hear the remorse that was laced in her trembling voice.

He was about to say something in reply when suddenly Rachel grabbed his bicep, clinging almost desperately, "Are you upset with me?" she asked in a trembling, insecure tone. One look into her wide dark eyes that were so completely filled with naive hope, Finn forced himself to push it all down, to swallow the jealousy and the hurt because really, neither of the girls belonged to him. And it wasn’t like they  _ planned _ to do this to hurt him, even if it did feel like it. Finn knew that even if he broke off his friendship with Rachel, her feelings for Quinn would still be there. And the same went for Quinn too. If he had learned anything from his failed-before-it-even-began relationship with Rachel was that you couldn’t stop your heart from loving whomever it chose.

Finn experienced a slow lift in his chest and he knew that it was his heart, gradually being released out of its chokehold, allowing him to truly let go. Maybe not all at once, but it was a start. And that was more than he could really hope for right now. Looking into her deep brown orbs, Finn realized that he would be a big fool if he were to throw her friendship away. She was the first person to see him as who he was and accept him at the same time. He gave Rachel a small reassuring smile, "No, I'm not upset, Rach," he finally answered, placing a hand over hers that was still on his arm, gently squeezing it. Her face lit up significantly and she suddenly leaned up, soundly planting her lips on his cheek before giving him a shy smile, so filled with joy and pride that further confirmed his belief that he was making the right choice, and he smiled shyly in return.

"Thank you," she said softly, squeezing his arm in gratitude before letting go, "I don't know what I would do if you're upset with me again."

The earnest sincerity in her dark eyes told him that she really meant it, that she truly did consider him a friend that she would be sad to lose and it filled him with a sort of joy that he was irreplaceable to her as she was to him. "It's just going to take me a little bit more time though, okay?" he reminded her, hoping that she understood that it was going to be a little while before his heart was done playing catch up.

Rachel nodded. "I understand."

Finn let out a discreet sigh, feeling a little exhausted as if he had just gone through battle. He shook his head. "So, what are you going do to about Quinn?"

The diva caught her bottom lip in between her teeth, concern flashing brightly in her brown eyes. "Are you sure you want to keep talking about this? We can always talk about anything el-" She stopped when Finn took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"I think it's best for us to just get it out of the way now," he said before assuring her with a brave smile, "I can do my crying when I'm alone in my room," he chuckled mirthlessly.

Rachel regarded him dubiously, wondering if it would be the best course of action to confide in Finn because she didn’t want to hurt him anymore than she already had. But there was a fierce determination in his eyes that told her that he would rather know the difficult truth now than be ignorant of it. She stole another brief glance at Quinn, who was distracted by whatever song she was listening to, before sighing deeply, "I don't think there's anything that I can do."

"What do you mean?" he asked, frowning at the despondence in her voice, confused by her resignation.

"She already has so much to deal with, Finn," she sighed again, picking up her pencil as she began to doodle on the music sheet. "She has a baby on the way. And then there's Noah to think about as well. It's very obvious that he has really deep feelings for her and I don't want to hurt him," she murmured, trying fruitlessly to distract herself.

Wincing slightly at Rachel mentioning Puck's feelings for his former girlfriend, the pang of betrayal not as fresh as before but still stinging nonetheless, Finn chose to ignore and not comment on it. "Did you ever think about maybe talking to her about it?" he asked carefully.

"How do you think she would react to finding out that the friend that has been there for all the tears since the beginning; the friend that she has been  _ living _ with since her  _ parents _ kicked her out; has feelings for her and wants to do  _ many _ unmentionable things  _ to _ her and  _ with _ her?" she paused, a hot blush settling in her cheeks when her words registered in her brain. She didn’t dare to look at Finn for fear of his reaction and she decided to quickly plow through, "And can I really dare to hope that she might feel the same way?"

"She'll hate me," she gasped lightly at the hollowness striking in her heart at the mere thought of losing Quinn and she took her hand off Finn's arm, folding it into a fist over her chest. She was  _ not _ fond of that feeling at all.

Finn swallowed a tearful lump at the troubled look in her eyes; instantly pushing away the thought of the two girls  _ together _ and watched Rachel lose herself in a world where Quinn left her, never once looking back. He called her name, wanting to pull her out. Her head whipped around to meet his apologetic gaze and his heart lurched inside his chest. There was something about seeing Rachel Berry look so shaken up that made Finn want to kick somebody or himself if need be; anything to get that desperate, haunted look out of her eyes.

He had only been watching their interaction from afar and really, it was so very painfully clear to see the intensity that swam deep in both pairs of brown and hazel eyes when they only  _ looked _ at each other. The air crackled between them so fiercely that even Finn felt the effect, felt the edges of his skin singeing from the sparks that flew between the two girls. And the way that Rachel had spoken about the connection that she shared with the pregnant blonde; it was so very easy to hear the desire in her voice, to see the fire in her brown eyes. And he would have to be an idiot to think that Quinn didn’t feel the same for Rachel, from the way that Quinn just stared right back at the brunette like Rachel was the source of everything good and true. So it surprised him that Rachel couldn’t seem to see that. Couldn’t seem to see Quinn's reciprocation and he wondered why. 

"I don't think I can survive Quinn pushing me away again, Finn. Once was  _ more _ than enough."

He pursed his lips, giving her a sympathetic look. He understood now that it was Rachel's fear that she could easily lose Quinn because of this, blinding her from seeing that there was nothing she could do that would ever make that really happen. "I don't think she would do that to you again, Rach, or to herself. She was a wreck too, remember?" he reminded her, easily recalling the weekend that Quinn stayed in his bedroom, crying and calling Rachel as if it were only yesterday. The regret in her hazel eyes was so clear and so palpable that he wondered why he didn't see it then; didn't see the depth of feelings that Quinn had even back then for the brunette.

She nodded solemnly, "I remember," her breath catching at the reminder of a weekend of forced separation filled with nothing but seemingly endless tears, ignored phone calls and unanswered apologetic texts. "And that's exactly what I don't want to happen between us. I don't want to get my heart broken, Finn."

"But isn't that supposed to be the whole point of being in love?" he blurted out without thinking, "So that you take that risk of getting your heart broken?"

There is a long pause before Rachel uttered her reply. "In love?" she repeated softly, her eyes blinking slow and owlishly with every passing second.

He shrugged. "Yeah. That's what this is, isn't it? You're in love with Quinn."

Rachel suddenly felt a pressure in her chest, a shortness of breath and a sheen of sweat covering the back of her neck. She wondered when did the room get so hot, and her next words were nothing but stutters of "I- oh God, I didn't even- I never-" as she tried to get a hold of her roller-coaster of emotions.

The taller boy's eyebrows folded together, frowning in confusion by her actions. "Whoa Rach, are you okay?" he asked, his hands reaching up to rest on her shoulders, holding her down. He didn’t understand why Rachel was being like this. She was desperately clutching her chest as she stood on seemingly wobbly legs and her eyes were darting everywhere like she was trying to-

"Rachel?"

Both of the club's co-captains were startled when they realized that Brittany was standing innocently beside the piano, a calm smile playing on her lips. Rachel focused on that grin, trying to draw some strength from it, feeling relieved that Brittany was there. Both Finn and Rachel waited for the blonde to continue, stating her reason as to why she was there.

"I'm heading out to feed my bird. You want to come with me?"

\---

Once they were a good distance away from the music room, Brittany wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders, pulling Rachel closer in a one-armed hug as they walked towards her locker. The smaller brunette hadn’t said a word since they left the room and it didn’t take a genius to see that whatever it was that she and Finn were talking about, it had left Rachel feeling very unsettled. The blonde leaned down, pressing the side of her head against Rachel's temple in comfort, "Do you need me to go kick his ass?" she calmly asked the contemplative brunette. The last time Rachel was this eerily quiet was after the last time that Quinn had upset her and it worried Brittany that Finn might have said something that hurt Rachel too.

Rachel looked up from the floor, startled that Brittany broke her out of her reverie. "What?" she murmured absently, having missed what Brittany said to her as her own thoughts were too preoccupied with what just happened in the music room. She didn’t really know what it was that she was feeling but the very moment she heard,  _ "You're in love with Quinn," _ it didn't just take her by surprise, it knocked her back completely. 

She wasn’t even sure why it did because wasn’t this what all those feelings were building up to anyway? Maybe it was just hearing it said out loud for the first time. It made everything that she felt for Quinn more concrete; Finn's words were breathing life into Rachel's deep-seated feelings for the blonde, giving them a name. One name and it struck Rachel as strange that this was how she  _ consciously _ realized her feelings. She had always known that she loved Quinn; loved her in the way that she needed the blonde in her life. Her feelings for Quinn had always been right there and she had always been aware of them taking their time to seep inside her skin until they were completely buried deep in her bones. But  _ in love _ ?

"Finn," Brittany clarified, breaking Rachel out of her quiet bewilderment. "Do you need me to kick his ass?" she asked, slowly repeating her offer.

She felt Brittany's fingers tensing slightly around her shoulder, ultimately betraying her calm demeanour. Rachel really didn’t know where or when Brittany suddenly got this protective streak. Ever since they became friends, Brittany had always tried to discreetly look after Rachel, especially with the slushies and everything but after the confrontation with Finn about Rachel knowing that Noah was the baby's father; it was like Brittany stepped it all up a notch, though thankfully she wasn’t as bad as Santana. Rachel gave the taller blonde a smile in thanks, wrapping her own arm around the cheerleader's waist to return the embrace, hoping to calm the girl down at the same time. "No, Brittany, it's okay. He didn't upset me."

"You  _ look _ upset though," Brittany argued, frowning at the pensive brown eyes looking back at her. She had never told Rachel this but she  _ really _ hated that she wasn't there when Finn confronted the smaller brunette, only hearing about the encounter from Santana afterwards and Rachel, only the day after. She felt this rush of anger and fury overcoming her and it wasn’t something that she was used to feeling. 

Brittany liked to think herself as an easygoing person, never one to resort to promised violence, not like her girlfriend but just the  _ thought _ of Finn who was so  _ big _ , practically towering over Rachel who was really so  _ small _ and scaring her too, really made Brittany's blood boil. While the brunette was talking to Finn, Brittany was very subtly watching Rachel's body language and when Rachel's face took on a stunned look and seemed seconds away from having a panic attack, Brittany reacted instinctively, taking her chance when Rachel stood up by stepping in and giving her the option to escape.

"He was just talking to me about Quinn," she told her friend.

"Why? Does he want to get back together with her?" Brittany asked apprehensively.

Rachel shook her head. "No. He is  _ definitely _ not thinking of  _ that _ at all." At Brittany's look, urging her to explain, Rachel did so, "He- he knows about my feelings for her."

Of all the people that Brittany thought would have been the next to know about Rachel's feelings for Quinn, she never would have pegged that it would be Finn. She sighed in relief. She had been worried that he might have scared Rachel from wanting to be with Quinn. From the conversation that Quinn and Santana were having and the loaded looks that she was sending Rachel's way, Brittany had more than a feeling that something was going to happen between them, and soon.

"And he asked me if I ever thought about talking to her about it," Rachel continued in a mumble. Without giving Brittany a chance to even reply, she tugged on the taller blonde's waist, pulling them in the direction of Brittany's locker, "Come on; let's go feed your bird."

Brittany sighed and let it all go for now, knowing that Rachel needed some time to regroup. So she took a page out of her girlfriend's book and decided to leave it well alone. Rachel and Quinn were meant to be and maybe some things were just better left to Fate.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys. There are so many words. Last chapter was like... 12k and so is this one. The next chapter is about 13k. 
> 
> I apologize for the soft cliffhanger in this one. But don't worry, the next chapter will quickly clear everything up. Though I cannot promise just how fast I can get that one up but I will try my best to do it by the end of this weekend.

It was the end of the school day before the weekend began and even though Mr. Schuester had cancelled practice for today, Quinn was in the music room with Puck, practising her song for the Glee assignment. 

Puck didn't need much coaxing when she first asked for his help. He readily agreed in exchange for talking about some 'baby things' which was fine with her because there was something that she had been wanting to ask him since their “forced” excursion to the music store a couple of days ago. They had agreed though, to leave that conversation until after they were done rehearsing and while Quinn waited for Rachel who had gone to see Brittany and Santana while they were at Cheerios practice with newly appointed cheerleaders, Kurt and Mercedes. 

The diva's parents were going away this weekend to visit with some friends in Columbus, so she was waiting for their friends to ask them if they wanted to hang out. Quinn didn't really mind spending time with her friends but she was kind of bummed that it wasn’t going to be just her and Rachel. She had come to view the nights at home as  _ their _ time that wasn’t to be shared with anybody else, but she couldn’t really say as much to Rachel without giving herself away.

She didn’t realize how far into her thoughts she was until Puck pulled her out, “What's up with the thinking frown, Princess?”

Quinn moved her contemplative gaze to the father of her baby who was now occupied with tuning his guitar. They actually managed to get a lot done and it surprised the pregnant girl at how well they worked together. The pang of regret that she had always associated with him was now barely a flicker and she was more than certain that she could call him a friend. She never really liked him before, when she was Finn’s girlfriend and he was the best friend that hung around all the time; judging him only by his promiscuous ways and all-around surly attitude. 

Now that she had spent a little bit more time with him, it was plain to see that just as in the case of everyone else their age, Puck was simply misunderstood. She had already seen for herself that he would do anything for his family when he stole the money from the bake sale and tried to give it to her. But really, it was more because of Rachel and her unwavering faith in her fellow Jew that persuaded Quinn to give him a real chance at being there for her (though Quinn was willing to bet that it was more due to their shared “history” than their shared religion that Rachel had such a soft spot for Puck and vice versa).

And the fact that he hadn’t tried to push her to be with him (or do anything  _ more _ with him, for that matter) just because they were having a baby together, did help his case a lot too.

Daintily shaking her head, “Nothing really. I'm just thinking,” she replied, offering him a cordial smile.

Puck cocked up an eyebrow at her vague answer, watching as she sat at the piano, mindlessly pressing on random black and white keys. “Exciting,” he muttered dryly before turning his attention back to his strumming. “So...” he began, “seven more weeks huh?”

She nodded. It was a little daunting to Quinn, to think that she would finally be meeting the little person that had been steadily growing inside her these past months in just a matter of weeks. Every time she thought about it, she felt completely unprepared, regardless of how many pregnancy books Rachel and Puck made her read. They hadn’t even discussed what was going to happen when she actually went into labour. 

But while she felt less than sure about herself, she was sure about Rachel and to some extent, Puck, but definitely mostly Rachel. She knew that the brunette would do everything and anything she could to keep Quinn steady and feeling like she could do anything because that was what she did now anyway. It was amazing to her how effortlessly Rachel did it, kept Quinn grounded with her piercing brown gaze and a soft, reassuring smile that told her that everything was going to be okay.

By the dreamy smile on her face, Puck could tell that Quinn was once again lost to the world and gone to her own and he was pretty sure that it revolved around one very specific person. But as hot as it was to know that his baby mama was thinking about another hot girl, there were really more pressing matters at hand. Though if she wanted to go back to thinking about it after they weredone talking and perhaps feel so generous as to share it with him, then he had no problems with that distraction whatsoever. “So, I guess we'd better get onto doing that thing then,” he said to the blonde who only gave him a confused look and he added unsurely, “picking out adoptive couples, I mean.”

Quinn sat up, her back ramrod straight; paying her full attention on the boy and the pending discussion he just started. She understood Puck’s reluctance in saying those words. Even though they potentially were doing the right thing, it still felt like they were giving up before even trying. Though he tried to hide it with his machismo, there was a hurt that was very plain to see in hazel-green pools. And in turn, it pained her to see it, to see her own pain reflected in his eyes. “You know,” she stopped briefly to lick her suddenly dry lips, “if you want, we could always try for an open adoption?”

Puck frowned, his dark hazel eyes narrowing into her wide, questioning ones while he thought over her suggestion. “Is that like, where we get to see her and things like that?”

She nodded. “Yeah, what do you think?” she asked, biting her bottom lip as she waited for his answer and she didn’t even have to wait for very long to get it.

“Hell yes, I want that,” he replied, nodding eagerly. “I want to be there for her and watch her grow up.”

And Quinn smiled indulgently at him, unsurprised. She could easily admit that between the two of them, while there  _ was _ a part of her that wanted to keep the baby, Puck was the one who wanted her more. He had always been the one adamant about being a family and taking care of her and their little girl. It was the easiest option, maybe even the safest option but by now Quinn had learned that safe and easy ended up breaking more hearts in the long run.

She could see herself loving Puck, sure, and she supposed there was some small section of her heart that did feel some kind of affection for him in the way that he was her child's father. But after knowing what it was like to be in Rachel's arms, to feel the brunette's presence all around her, to experience what it was like to be cared for by Rachel; Quinn couldn’t – didn’t even  _ want _ to - see herself giving that up, giving  _ Rachel _ up. How could Quinn even  _ entertain _ the very thought of giving the girl up when everything she had ever known and ever felt before Rachel, paled so completely in comparison that she didn’t even know if she was really living then?

Once again Puck broke through her thoughts, loudly clearing his throat to bring her back, “So, do you have a list or something that we can look through?” and Quinn nodded in reply.

“Yeah, Mr. Berry helped get some sort of catalogue of families that are willing to do it. I can bring it over to your house tomorrow, maybe?” she offered to which he very gratefully agreed.

Puck then glanced at the clock above the doorway and realized that they had been talking for a long while. He couldn’t help but wonder about the absence of a certain diminutive brunette. “So where's Rachel anyway?” he asked, smirking internally at the pregnant blonde's bright smile just at the mere mention of the diva.

Subtle as a freight train, that was his baby mama.

The blonde responded, oblivious to the knowing twinkle in his eyes, “Rach is waiting for Britt and Santana. She wants them to come over tonight to hang out and maybe sleep over.”

At the words “sleep over”, Puck's imagination predictably ran wild at the thought of four of the hottest girls that he knew, together in their jammies. He was pretty sure that if either Santana or Quinn were privy to what scenario was currently playing in his head, he’d get a major ass-kicking. So he shoved down those delicious thoughts for a later date and smartly decided to comment on something else instead, “That still sounds so weird,” he chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. Her head tilted quizzically, and he elaborated, “Rachel hanging out with Brittany and Santana.”

It was definitely a strange turn in circumstance that suddenly the one person they used to torture with insults and slushies had now become somebody they willingly spent time with and actually  _ liked _ . “Yeah it’s still a little weird seeing it, I mean, not Brittany and Rachel obviously, but Rachel and Santana. When you see them all together though, they somehow make sense. And it’s really,  _ so _ cute the way that Santana looks after Rachel like a little sister. Who knew that Santana Lopez is such a softie for Rachel Berry?” Quinn chuckled.

“Dare you to say that to Lopez’s face,” he quickly challenged her with a smirk.

“I’d rather eat fake bacon,” she shot back, putting on a disgusted face and barely repressing a shudder at the very thought of eating the pale and very poor imitation that Rachel once suggested to her when they went grocery shopping awhile ago. Needless to say, Quinn glared Rachel into putting the package back into the supermarket freezer.

There was a short lull in their conversation as Puck continued to strum in time with the melody that she found herself playing on the piano. She stopped but he kept playing, lost in the music that he was creating. She almost felt guilty when she interrupted and his fingers got caught on some strings, “Hey, can I ask you something?” changing her position to face him, away from the piano.

Puck gazed warily at her. “You’re not going to ask me to do a bacon run  _ now _ , are you?” he asked, sighing in relief when she shook her head, rolling her eyes at him. He shrugged. It wouldn't have been the first time she asked him to do so. “What is it then, Princess?”

Quinn breathed in deeply, steadily gathering her courage. “You know, don’t you?” she asked bluntly. At his inquiring gaze, she added, faltering slightly, “About my- about Rachel, I mean.”

The expression on her face told him that she wanted a straight up answer, and probably wouldn’t appreciate him just saying “duh” to her. He was being truthful when he told her if she wanted to talk about Rachel, she could come to him but he didn’t think she actually would. Not when she had friends like Brittany and Santana to confide in but he couldn’t help but feel a little honoured that she was coming to him about this, that she was trusting him with something close to her heart and he felt nothing but gratitude towards the blonde girl. 

He shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out. Plus, I saw that green-eyed monster when she was singing with that hairpiece from Vocal Adrenaline -  _ so _ not attractive by the way – and just the way that you are around her...” he trailed off, leading her to draw her own conclusion.

“Am I really that obvious?” And she winced instantly at the look on his face that told her that yes, she  _ was _ that obvious and the blood rose up to her cheeks as she blushed, embarrassed by her lack of subtlety.  Santana had always been on her about practically  _ salivating _ over Rachel but Quinn always thought that it was because Santana paid much too close attention to her. Apparently not.

“No worries, Princess. I totally get it,” he told her. “Rachel is a grade-A hot Jew.” He smirked unapologetically when she rolled her eyes at him and he just shrugged again because really, is he wrong? “So you're going to serenade her, huh?” His smirk widened when Quinn shyly nodded and blushed in response. “If you want my advice, I can totally vouch that she  _ really _ loves it when people sing to her,” he crowed, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her, the redness in her cheeks deepening from his innuendo. A devilish mischief twinkled in his eyes when he said, “Send me pictures,” giving her an exaggerated wink.

“Puck!” she hissed, feeling the rising heat in her cheeks. She was pretty sure that even her ears were red from his cheeky request. Her stomach was fluttering in excitement though, at the thought that Rachel would be so receptive to her singing that it would warrant Puck to think it would be going somewhere. But then she remembered the rest of what he said, realizing the reason that he even knew this at all was because he actually dated Rachel. He got to hold her, touch her and kiss her. Quinn’s excitement then mutated into irrational jealousy and she swiftly kicked him in the shin. A childish feeling of triumph washed over her when he yelped in pained surprise, laughing when his guitar dropped to knock on his knee.

“Ow! What? Damn it, woman! Did pregnancy like, give you legs of steel?” he snapped, scowling at her as he held and rubbed at the injured areas of his leg.

She waved a dismissive hand at him, “Oh whatever, I didn’t hit you  _ that _ hard,” she said, rolling her eyes unsympathetically over the boy’s dramatics.

“Easy for you to say, you weren’t the one that got kicked,” he mumbled, pouting petulantly.

“You deserved it,” she said, “You were being gross about me and Rachel when we don’t know if she even feels the same way,” she stressed, raising a hand to rub at the spot on her chest where she felt her heart constricting painfully all of a sudden. She guessed that it was from the fear of Rachel rejecting her. Quinn really didn’t know what she was going to do if or when that happened.

“Maybe  _ you _ don’t,” he muttered under his breath.

Even though he probably didn’t intend for her to hear it, she did and she snapped. “Has she told  _ you _ anything?” and when he didn’t answer, she continued, “Then you don’t  _ actually _ know. You’re just guessing.”

The mohawked boy scoffed, “Whatever.”

If there was one thing that Noah Puckerman knew in the world; the one subject that if it were taught in school, he’d get an A plus, the one topic on which he had done more extensive research than on any actual schoolwork; was girls. More specifically  _ hot _ girls. And in the past few weeks, he had spent quite a bit of his time with two  _ very _ hot girls and sure, there was  _ clearly _ something wrong in that particular picture because he wasn’t getting any from either of them, but still he was probably one of very, very few people who had seen them together, acting freely without having to worry about what other people would think about what their intimate touches and close contact meant. 

He had seen the way they gravitated to each other, starting with already a little space in between them and then seamlessly coming together like magnets. Then there were the smiles that they shared and the smiles that they didn’t, the ones that they tried to hide from each other because there was so much more in them than just platonic affection. And it was hard to miss the soft, yearning gaze in chocolate brown eyes as they moved over Quinn’s delicate features and the spark in hazel eyes that only kept getting brighter with every second that passed as tanned fingers remained linked with her own pale ones.

Puck might not know what it was like to be in love, but he wasn’t completely ignorant as to when he was in the presence of it.

He placed his guitar onto its stand before resting his hands on his knees, “Even though I'm  _ very _ sure you don't need it, good luck anyway, Princess,” offering the girl a soft, sincere smile, and she gave him a grateful smile in return. And just because he was Puck, he was about to add something very inappropriate and make Quinn blush again when a familiar, melodic voice interrupted and his mouth quickly clamped shut.

“Why are you wishing her luck?”

Two pairs of hazel eyes widened almost comically, turning to see the petite diva that they were just talking about, standing in the door way and they were surprised to find that Rachel actually heard Puck's last few words before she came in the room. Quinn turned to face him, urging him with a (hopefully) subtle tilt of her head that Rachel, who was walking in the room to sit next to Quinn on the piano bench before dropping her messenger bag on the floor, was still waiting for him to answer the question and the fact that he hadn’t said anything yet was making them look like they had something to hide. 

Not that Rachel seemed to be thinking that there  _ was _ anything to worry about, judging by the patient smile on her face but still, without aforethought, Puck blurted out, “For her Glee number on Monday.” And he mentally patted himself on the back for thinking on his feet until he saw Rachel's eyebrows drop, knitting together in confusion.

“But Quinn said that she was going to get you to help her with that. Are you not helping her?” she inquired, her frown deepening as she tried to recall as to whether she imagined Quinn saying that she was going to get Puck to help her with the song.

“Uh, oh yeah, she did. I mean, I am,” he stuttered, smiling sheepishly and shrugging helplessly at Quinn. The admonishing glare in the pregnant blonde's hazel eyes were telling him that he should look forward to some more kicking from her. His gaze lowered to the floor, scratching the back of his neck as he tried to think of a way to fix this. 

“I was uh- just saying it in case, y'know... In case I forget,” he finished in a mumble. And he uncharacteristically blushed when Rachel looked at him weirdly, half-contemplating as to whether she should try to figure out what he was talking about and half-hoping the baby would inherit Quinn’s intelligence.

Hoping to distract the brunette and save Puck because he was so obviously floundering under Rachel's s completely innocent line of questioning, Quinn interjected, “So what did Brittany and Santana say?”

And it worked when Rachel returned her attention to Quinn. “Oh, they are spending the weekend with Santana's family. So it's just going to be the two of us, I'm afraid,” she replied as her shoulders slumped down, a pout on her lips. She was really looking forward to having actual  _ friends _ over at her house and spending time with them. The other reason she wanted to have them over was so that Quinn wouldn't be home alone while she went to her dance class the next day. Whenever she left the house for her classes, either her papa or her dad was usually there to keep Quinn company and the thought of her friend being all alone made Rachel anxious that something bad might happen. She knew Quinn would tell her that she would be fine but Rachel really would prefer to know that Quinn would be  _ safe _ rather than just fine.

Quinn misinterpreted Rachel's anxiety as disappointment and she picked up the brunette's small hand in hers, weaving their fingers together before placing their hands in her lap, “We'll manage without them, Rach,” she smiled reassuringly, her thumb softly stroking the baby-soft skin. She hated seeing the sad look on Rachel's face and she made a mental note to invite Brittany and Santana to sleep over next weekend instead. Maybe that would cheer her girl up.

Huh.  _ Her _ girl. She liked that.

Rachel heart swelled at the beautiful smile shining at her and she beamed back at the blonde, gently squeezing her hand, “I'm sure we will. I just, it's the first time my parents are going away since you’ve moved in and there won't be anybody else in the house tomorrow. I don't want to leave you at home alone,” she confessed, revealing her worries to the blonde and not caring that Noah was right there, listening in to their quiet conversation.

Warmth flooded her senses, realizing that while Rachel  _ was _ disappointed that they couldn't have a sleepover with their friends; her mood was more due to her not wanting to leave Quinn alone. When she stayed at Finn's, there were days or nights when Finn would be off with his football buddies to party or play video games, his mom would be working and Quinn would be in the house all by herself. There were even times when Quinn didn't even know that she was left on her own until either Mrs. Hudson or Finn returned. It wasn’t that they were negligent or didn't care. It was more like, they just took it for granted that she would be fine. 

And Quinn understood then that Rachel didn’t want her to feel like she was being abandoned and god, it was like her heart wanted to burst out of her chest. Not even her  _ parents _ cared about leaving her and here she was, this girl that she treated so badly for so long, making her feel like she  _ mattered _ .

Quinn wondered then how the hell Finn and Puck could be such idiots for letting Rachel go. If Puck and Santana were actually right about Rachel  _ possibly _ reciprocating, that was definitely one mistake that Quinn intended on never making.

Never.

Sneaking a glance at Puck to make sure that he wasn’t watching, Quinn shyly lifted their hands to kiss the back of Rachel's, hoping that it would replace all the words that she desperately wanted to say but right now couldn’t . Rachel's answering smile was breathtaking and blinding. “Actually, Puck was just asking me to show him the list of couples that your dad brought over the other day. I said that I’ll bring it over while you’re at dance tomorrow,” she murmured quietly. “That’s okay, right?”

Rachel nodded fervently, grinning widely. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be? I can drop you off before I go to class.” She leaned forward, wanting to say something to Noah who had been quiet for the most part of the conversation. She noticed then that he was listening to his iPod, for whatever reason, giving the girls their privacy to talk between themselves and Rachel smiled, grateful for his consideration. 

She leaned slightly over Quinn's lap and poked at his knee to gain his attention. He jumped a little, startled by her touch and he pulled out his ear-buds, waiting to hear what she wanted to say. She rested her hand on Quinn's baby bump, stroking in small circles and enjoying the thuds against her palm. “I'm really glad that you have taken the initiative, Noah. I was afraid that I was going to have to hunt you down and lecture you about making Quinn do this on her own.”

“Thank god for small favours then,” he quipped, shuddering at the thought of having to go through another Rachel Berry lecture, grinning cheekily when dark chocolate eyes narrowed into a glare. He watched in quiet awe as her scowl softened the very moment Quinn covered the small tanned hand on her swollen stomach with her own. Figuring that his presence wasn’t needed anymore, Puck made a move to stand up. 

“Right, so, I’m out. Good luck, Princess. And remember to text me those pictures.” He winked secretively at Quinn while Rachel was turned away for a second to pick up her bag, laughing silently at the glare that she shot him. When Rachel sat back up with her bag on her lap, he waved goodbye to them before walking out of the room, wincing slightly at the pain in his leg from Quinn’s earlier kick. Seriously. Legs of freaking  _ steel _ .

Rachel was adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder when curiosity got the best of her and the questions shot out from her lips before she could stop them, “Why was he still wishing you luck? What pictures was he talking about?” then she paused as she recalled Puck’s departing manner and she frowned, “Why was he limping?”

“No reason. He's just being Puck,” Quinn answered quickly, waving her hand dismissively. “Nothing to be worried about,” she smiled reassuringly. “Are you ready to go home?” she added as she pushed off the piano bench to stand. She was walking towards the door when she realized that Rachel hadn’t replied to her question and she spun around, meeting with Rachel’s contemplative gaze, “What?”

“Are you okay?”

Quinn frowned, her hazel eyes narrowing. There was a soft, careful tone in Rachel’s question and she was a little bit afraid of what it might mean. “Yeah, why?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

The smaller girl hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip, unsure as to whether she should say this now or just wait until they were home. But intuition was telling her to do it now and thus far, her sixth sense hadn’t failed her or steered her wrong. “I know that you wanted to wait for Noah to actually approach you so you can make the decision together and I’m really glad that he didn’t disappoint but, you do know that you don't have to do it unless you're absolutely sure, right? I mean, there’s no pressure to give her away.”

The blonde sighed in relief, realizing that it was just Rachel being her usual sweet, worried self. Quinn smiled reassuringly at the diva, grabbing her hand and lightly squeezing it. “I know, Rach. I think maybe we can just meet with potential couples and make a more informed decision when the baby comes.” When Rachel nodded in acceptance, they left the music room to walk through the school hallway in comfortable silence.

Quinn remembered Rachel’s papa telling her that if they hadn’t decided yet by the time the baby arrived, they would have to keep her until they did (the other option of letting the hospital deal with her was one that Quinn shot down quickly). And Quinn didn't know if she could handle keeping her, taking care of her and...  _ loving _ her as she and Puck decided on who got to keep her. It would devastate her and it would completely destroy Puck. But it still didn’t stop the knowledge that she was thinking of surrendering something,  _ somebody _ who was essentially half her, with her blood coursing their veins; it just didn't even feel real.

She hurriedly looked to the brunette, her loud thoughts quieting down and the knot in her stomach unclenched as she kept her eyes trained on the brunette's profile and Rachel’s scent filling her senses. Just when they reached the exit and Rachel was getting ready to push the door open, Quinn tugged her back. The brunette looked up at her, waiting patiently. She raised a hand to brush her fingers through her hair and she sighed. “It’s- this is the right thing to do, isn’t it?” she asked quietly. 

She watched Rachel looking unsure as how to reply but she nodded slowly anyway. “I have to give my baby away,” the blonde whispered brokenly. With those uttered words, Quinn felt a sharp pain shattering inside her, leaving a hollow space.

Rachel watched the blonde’s eyes as they glazed over, a deep sadness settling in them. She brought her hand up to rest gently on the blonde’s cheek, coaxing hazel eyes to meet hers. She called Quinn’s name until finally the emptiness left, and the blonde was looking at Rachel in a way like she was asking, no,  _ pleading _ her for something and Rachel could only hope to every divinity there was that she wouldn’t let Quinn down.

Her thumb moved slowly and soothingly over Quinn’s cheek and the blonde’s eyelashes fluttered close as Rachel leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together and hoping that Quinn could find comfort in her proximity. Rachel licked her dry, chapped lips, whispering and hoping that Quinn was listening. “If you do decide to give her away, it’s not going to be the same as just carelessly tossing her away somewhere, Quinn. You're not thinking about doing this for your  _ own _ selfish reasons. You're doing this for  _ her _ .” 

Rachel waited for some sort of recognition that Quinn heard her, but the blonde didn’t answer her, didn’t move and didn’t even open her eyes to look at her. Rachel was suddenly at a loss on what to do. She could see Quinn trying to hold back her tears, her eyes so tightly shut that Rachel swallowed a painful lump in her throat, hating that there didn’t seem to be anything she could say to make this better.

In the corner of her eye, Rachel glanced out the window of the exit door and saw that there were still a few cars in the parking lot. The brunette surrendered to her instinct when she let her hand fall from Quinn’s face and the blonde opened her eyes in surprise at the retraction. Rachel suppressed a pained gasp at seeing blurry, red eyes and instead took Quinn’s hand, pulling the girl back inside the school. “Come on,” she said, tugging the blonde closer to wrap her arm around her waist and letting her feet guide them.

\---

Rachel didn't really know where she got the idea to come back here, the backstage of the school auditorium. Maybe it was just her sixth sense making it up to her by telling her that it was the place to be, that this was where this needed to happen. Whatever it was, it felt right to be here. And no sooner after they sit down, Rachel opens her arms for Quinn to fall sat and the blonde nuzzlesld into the crook of Rachel's neck, finally letting loose the tears that she tried to keep inside. Quinn’s whole body was shaking so violently from the gut-wrenching cries that spilled from her lips that even Rachel was shaking. The small brunette didn’t try to offer the girl anymore platitudes of comfort, only choosing to close her eyes to keep her own tears at bay and holding on tighter to Quinn until there was no space left in between them. Then Rachel did only what only Rachel Berry would do in a situation such as this: she started singing.

\---

Several seconds and minutes passed by and Quinn's sobs had finally tapered down to the occasional sniffles, but the girls made no move to leave. This wouldn’t be the last time that she cried over possibly losing her baby and Rachel's heart ached knowing this. She hated seeing the endless stream of tears flowing from those soulful hazel eyes but there was nowhere else that she would rather be but here, with Quinn in her arms. She might not be able to stop the tears or prevent them but she made a promise to herself and to her friend, and Rachel  _ never _ backed out on a promise.

And Rachel was more than willing to offer Quinn anything and everything that she needed, though her singing had by now faded down to a soft humming and the sound echoed lightly in the empty space. She could feel kicking against her side and there was the barest hint of a bittersweet smile on her lips. Rachel laid her hand on the swollen stomach beside her, her smile widening when her palm was met with more enthusiastic thuds. Her hand then moved up to the blonde’s cheek, letting her thumb tenderly stroke over a delicate cheek.

Quinn snuggled further inside, nuzzling her cheek against the brunette’s palm and she sighed heavily, content to stay in Rachel's arms, her own wrapped around the smaller girl's waist and her head resting on the girl’s chest. She didn’t feel as lost or as broken when she was safely cocooned in the brunette's warm embrace. The rhythmic thump of Rachel’s heartbeat gave her a quiet sense of peace. But, there was also something about being back here, in this place where she first saw Rachel sing and made her  _ feel _ . It almost felt like coming back home.

She remembered the late afternoons when she would sit here, watching Rachel, or leaning back against the wall, listening to that beautiful voice; the days when she would think about her future and the future of her baby; the days when she would cry these same tears. Alone. She was  _ always _ alone.

But she wasn’t anymore.

Quinn knew that Rachel was waiting for her. She just  _ knew _ . Even though the gentle hand on her face wasn’t forcing her to look up, wasn’t telling her that she needed to stop crying, wasn’t making her do anything that she didn’t want to do. Rachel was waiting but didn’t care that Quinn was taking her time, and she would wait for however long it took until Quinn was ready. Quinn knew all this and she fought down another sob rising up her throat from her chest, this time of sheer gratitude that she had Rachel with her because god, where would she be right now without her? Though she kind of did know, because there  _ was _ a time when she didn’t have the diva at all and she was more than thankful that she had been given another chance to make it right with Rachel. She finally lifted her head off the girl’s torso to meet a pair of brown eyes with a steady stare that was slowly healing her wounded heart.

Her hazel eyes were rimmed red from the tears that she cried and Rachel’s heart swelled seeing the dull spark in hazel orbs. “Hey you,” she breathed out, smiling softly at her friend.

Quinn picked up the hand off her cheek, immediately intertwining tanned fingers with her own. “Hey,” she sighed in reply before bringing Rachel's hand up to her lips and softly pressing them on bare knuckles. She gave the girl a shaky smile that told Rachel that no, she wasn’t okay, but she would be.

As long as Rachel was there, she would be.

\---

Steve walked out of the Berry home towards the car where Mal had been waiting for the past fifteen minutes, followed by the two girls as he rambled on a list of rules for them, one of which was to not throw a party, earning him a playful eye-roll from his daughter. “Papa, I know all this already. This isn't the first time you and Dad are going away, and when have I  _ ever _ thrown parties while you were gone?”

“Yes well, that was  _ before _ Quinn moved into the house. Now there are two of you that I have to worry about. Who knows just what kind of trouble two teenage girls can get up to when they're left home alone?” This time, both the girls rolled their eyes because really, there wasn’t much trouble that they  _ could _ get into, what with Quinn being pregnant and Rachel being well... Rachel.

Mal sighed tiredly. Not even on the road and he was already exhausted. He loved Steve deeply but sometimes the man really did worry too much. He rolled down the window, calling out to him, “Babe, come on, I want to get there some time  _ this _ century.” His scowl softened when Steve smiled apologetically. He never could resist those soft blue eyes when they were looking at him like that. He stepped out of the car and made his way around. “The girls will be fine,” he promised, smiling reassuringly at Steve, placing a hand on his shoulder before giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. “You know how I know this?” he asked, a ghost of a wicked smile on his lips before turning to face the girls, narrowing a steady gaze on his daughter and the girl he had come to see as his own, “I know this because they are both mature and level-headed women and we trust them  _ implicitly _ to not throw any parties or invite any of those high school boys into the house while we’re away because they  _ know _ how disappointed we will be. And they  _ know _ how much it would  _ hurt _ us to be disappointed in them. Isn’t that right, girls?

“Wow, your dad is way better at the guilt thing than you are,” Quinn muttered not too subtly to Rachel, her hazel eyes widening in panicked amazement. She already felt guilty and she wasn’t even  _ thinking _ about doing anything that would be considered as breaking a rule.

“Where do you think I learned it from?” Rachel muttered in reply. While she might be used to her Dad doing that, it didn’t stop her from feeling the faint effects of guilt swirling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that her Dad was basically telling her to just humour her Papa because he really did live for these moments when he got to 'parent' her. Rachel returned Mal's gaze with a mild, annoyed glare before turning to face her Papa. She limply raised her right hand, picking up Quinn's own right hand at the same time. “We promise that we won't have high school boys over and that we won’t be hosting any parties,” she deadpanned.

As Steve nodded, a satisfied smile on his face, Rachel's chocolate eyes suddenly twinkled mischievously. “Now, you should get going because the sooner you go, the sooner we can invite over our very  _ non _ -high school biker boyfriends to come over for a few rounds of wild, hot sex,” she added, putting on an innocent smile.

Mal just sighed enduringly, knowing already what was about to happen. He saw Steve's blue eyes narrowing into a glare though his lips twitched in amusement because he knew he just got played. And when Steve dryly asked their only daughter, “You think you’re funny, don’t you?”, Mal stepped back, pulling Quinn with him to assume their roles as bystanders to Rachel and Steve's impending 'battle of wits'. There was a sense of comfort though, watching Steve and Rachel go at each other like this. These were his loved ones, his family and they were his home. 

Just by looking at them, Mal knew that there was nothing else that he wanted. He glanced over at the pregnant blonde beside him who was biting down on her lip, worried that Rachel was going to get in trouble for her loose comment because she wasn’t used to seeing family behave this way. He placed a comforting hand on her back and when she turned to him, he gave her a reassuring smile. But her hazel eyes remained anxious and so Mal brought his hand up to her shoulder, keeping her in place while they watch the small brunette drawled, “You tell me,” smiling slyly when she cheekily added, “I learned it from  _ you _ .”

Quinn inwardly gasped at Rachel's gall, knowing that if she talked back like this to her own father, he wouldn't be chuckling like Steve was doing right now. She shook her head, still baffled by what was happening in front of her when he pulled Rachel into his arms, hugging her tightly, “And I am  _ so _ proud,” he said overdramatically.

He released Rachel but kept his hands on her shoulders as he looked into her eyes, “You take care of yourself and our girl, okay?” he asked in a low whisper, tilting his head in Quinn's direction.

“You know that I will,” Rachel swore quietly, a promise in her dark eyes, following his gesture to the pregnant girl who blushed at the enchanting smile that Rachel gave her, feeling her heart skip a beat at the sight. The small brunette turned back to Steve, “I love you, papa,” she murmured sweetly.

His blue eyes shone and he pulled her back in as his voice wavered in his reply, “I love you too, sweetheart,” lightly squeezing her to him.

It was a touching scene that Mal and Quinn felt lucky to witness. The love he felt for his family beat hard in his chest, crashing over him like a tidal wave. These were the moments that he lived for, moments that proved that no matter what anybody said, their love was valid and it was  _ real _ . Quinn was experiencing that same love pulsing in her and for that one moment, she missed her own family, for the times when they would actually let their mask slide to show their love for each other. And here she saw a family where there were no masks ever, no hidden agendas and no pressure to be anything but who you were, flaws and all.

Remembering finally that too much time had passed by and that they really needed to go soon, Mal broke the silence. “What? No love for dear old dad?” he asked loudly making the two pull away from each other. He pouted exaggeratedly at them, chuckling when Rachel rolled her eyes playfully at him then stomped over to him before throwing her arms around him, resting her head on his broad chest. Mal sighed contentedly, returning the hug and closing his eyes as he took in his daughter's familiar scent. His arms tightened around her when he heard her telling him that she loved him too. He opened his eyes to see Quinn standing beside them, her hands behind her back, shifting awkwardly with her attention on her shoes scuffling the pavement. He called out to her and when her head raised making their eyes meet, he gestured to the hug he was sharing with Rachel, “Get in here.” She responded with an unsure frown, unwilling to intrude on their moment and Mal just rolled his eyes at her and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her to stand by Rachel. When his younger daughter tugged Quinn’s right arm to wrap around her waist, he watched the blonde immediately relaxing from her stiff posture, allowing herself to enjoy the affection that they were giving her. There was a peacefulness across her delicate features as she inched closer to Rachel, sandwiching the smaller girl between them.

Steve observed the trio with a serene smile on his face. “Aw, our little family,” he cooed happily before wrapping his arms around all of them.

A quiet, peaceful moment settled over the Berry family (honorary Berry included). Four pairs of eyes were closed, basking in the feeling of the loving embrace that they were sharing. Quinn felt Rachel shuffle slightly to rest her head against hers. Mal’s hand was rubbing her back, letting her know that he was there for her and she could smell the familiar scent of Steve’s cologne coming from behind her, and the blonde struggled to push down her swelling emotions, her disbelief that she was considered a part of a family that she had come to love so deeply. A family that she was taught to hate by her own father but turned out to be the family that accepted and cared for her, even with all her emotional baggage.

The moment was then broken when Rachel suddenly piped up, “Okay, you tall people need to get off me now because I really can’t breathe,” prompting everybody to pull away, breaking out in hearty laughter.

\---

It wasn’t until fifteen minutes later the Berry men were on the road and Rachel closed the front door. Quinn walked over to the couch in the living room and immediately fell back on the soft cushions. She sighed happily, feeling the tightness in her body melting away as she shifted until she was satisfied that she was comfortable. The brunette grinned at the adorable sight, “Tired?” she asked, receiving only a lazy hum of agreement in reply. She went to kneel by the couch and ran her fingers through Quinn’s silky hair. “Do you want to cancel the movie tonight so you can get some rest after dinner?”

The exhaustion was clear in the way that her eyes closed automatically before Rachel even made contact but Quinn shook her head. “I’ll be okay in a few minutes,” she mumbled, whining softly when Rachel stopped her ministrations. She blinked her eyes open to meet Rachel’s, “Don’t stop,” she pleaded lightly and Rachel just gave her a warm smile, nodding acquiescingly while bringing her hand back to weave through golden locks. Closing her eyes back again, she asked, “So, what are we watching later? Not another horror movie, right? I'm still getting over the last one you made me watch.”

Rachel chuckled at the cute frown that Quinn had on her face, most likely recalling the gruesome images from the last movie they had seen together. “If I had known the effect this genre has on you, I wouldn't have made you watch  _ Saw _ the other night. Look,” she paused to pull back the long sleeve of her shirt, showing her arm to Quinn who dutifully opened her eyes, “you can still see the dents that your nails left on me.”

The blonde blushed, seeing the deep imprints of her fingernails on tanned skin, “Sorry,” she apologized with a sheepish grin.

“It's okay, Quinn. It was my fault for not checking with you first,” Rachel conceded. “I’m going to go call for take-out, okay?” she told the blonde, getting up when she got a nod in reply.

“So, this movie is nothing like  _ Saw _ , right?” Quinn asked again as the diva crossed the floor to look for the house phone.

Rachel halted in her movement before turning to glance at the blonde who had her eyes closed again. “No, nothing at all like  _ Saw _ ,” she replied with an innocent smile.

\---

Quinn stared blankly at the screen, her mouth hanging open as she tried to maintain a steady breathing pattern, unsuccessfully attempting to calm her heart that raced erratically inside her chest. It had already been more than a few minutes since the film ended and she was _still_ trying to erase that horrible – _horrible_ \- final image from her mind but every time she closed her eyes, she could still see it. She could still see that... _dead_ _girl_ sitting on that guy’s shoulders after that Polaroid photo finished developing and everything that had happened to him before then suddenly made sense.

Dear god, she was going to have some  _ really _ bad dreams tonight.

She glanced over at Rachel and her mouth opened wider in disbelief. The brunette wasn’t even frightened at all! The diva just had this ridiculous grin on her face like she actually  _ enjoyed _ the film and Quinn followed as Rachel just calmly got off the bed to presumably take the DVD out of the player. Her annoyance flared up when she heard Rachel start to hum after pressing the eject button on the remote.

Humming!

“I cannot  _ believe _ you just made me watch that!” she shrieked, breaking the silence and simultaneously making Rachel jump in surprise from the sheer volume of her voice.

There was a look of confusion on the brunette’s face when she turned around with the DVD case in her hand. “What was wrong with this one?” she asked, taken aback by the icy glare currently shooting at her. She hadn’t seen a glare like that since before they became friends when Quinn thought that she was trying to steal Finn from her. Rachel was pretty sure that even Medusa would be afraid for her life if she saw what Rachel was seeing right now.

Quinn rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly. “What was wrong with-  _ Rach _ , if I can barely watch movies where people are being tortured by actual real live people, what the hell made you think I can watch movies about people being tortured by dead, butt-ugly  _ ghosts _ hell-bent on revenge? You’re right. It  _ isn’t _ anything like  _ Saw _ . That was so much worse!” she snapped, leaping off the mattress to pace back and forth beside the bed, hoping to walk off all the excess frightened energy coursing through her body.

Rachel unhurriedly placed the DVD back in its case before giving Quinn a flippant shrug. “I thought it was an  _ excellent _ movie. I definitely prefer this movie version of the – pardon my French – bastardized American version,” she remarked, sitting back down on her bed then pushing herself back until she leaned back against the headboard. Her eyes followed the tense blonde as Quinn moved from one side of the room to the opposite, and back again.

“Well I prefer  _ neither, _ ” the blonde huffed then stopped her pacing just at the foot of the bed as she crossed her arms.

Thankful that her friend was facing slightly away from her, Rachel tried to fight off a grin when she could clearly see Quinn begin to put on an adorable put-off pout. “Were you really that scared?” she asked lightly, hoping that the blonde couldn’t hear the mirth in her voice, not wanting to provoke the now legendary volatile pregnancy hormones that Quinn had been known to unleash. 

She watched as the blonde’s pout become more prominent, her full lips on display, distracting Rachel so much that she almost missed the blonde’s mumbled reply that yes, she really was that scared. Taking her focus away from Quinn’s irresistible lips and back on the matter at hand, Rachel wasn’t sure how or why but she found herself immensely charmed by her friend’s petulance. “Aw, poor baby,” she cooed in reply, exaggeratedly pouting her own lips in faux-remorse.

“Just because I hate these movies doesn't mean I'm a baby,” Quinn grumbled as she glared at the brunette. “And just so you know, if I have nightmares about ghosts sitting on my shoulders, causing me back pain, I am going to  _ blame _ you.” She pointed at Rachel, only to see amusement in dark brown eyes and a growing smirk on her face. “I really don't see the humour in what I just said, Rachel. I really will blame you.”

The diva pushed off the headboard, to sit at the edge of the mattress. “Aw sweetie, come here and let Rachel scare all your ghosts away,” she said, extending her arms, offering it to the blonde.

“No,” Quinn petulantly spat out, shaking her head as she spun around to meet teasing brown eyes, “and I really do not appreciate that patronizing tone, Rachel Barbra Berry,” she accused, a warning tone in her own voice.

The brunette sighed then proceeded to crawl over to Quinn who had her back turned to Rachel again. She cleared her throat, surprising the blonde by her sudden proximity and brought a hand to rest gently in the crook of Quinn’s elbow. “I'm sorry I made you watch that movie, Quinn. Truly I am,” she said contritely.

Quinn scoffed loudly, “You  _ should _ be sorry,” mentally damning herself when she felt her defences weakening at the sight of regretful brown eyes and a down-turned pout.

Rachel nodded fervently. “I am, I promise,” she swore. “Look, I’ll make it up to you. Next time it'll be one of those romantic comedies that you love so much, like  _ 27 Dresses _ or something,” she promised, suppressing an apprehensive shudder at being made to watch that movie or anything else in that genre but, anything for Quinn, right? When the blonde began to smile, Rachel let out an inaudible sigh of relief, knowing that she was in the clear. “Now come back down here and let me comfort you, woman,” she ordered, tugging at Quinn’s elbow and pulling them towards the head of the bed.

Arching an eyebrow at the brunette’s demand, “Did you just call me 'woman'? That's it, no more hanging out with Puck and Santana without my supervision,” she nagged as she laid down beside Rachel. She looked up at the ceiling, mentally counting down the glow-in-the-dark stars when she heard a chuckle coming from the brunette. “What? What's so funny?”

Rachel smiled lopsidedly and shrugged. “I just- I never thought I'd ever see the day when somebody would be telling me that I have to  _ stop _ hanging out with Noah and Santana. It's kind of nice actually, having friends who truly care for me.”

“I can personally vouch for that,” Quinn replied, a meaningful look in her hazel eyes, picking up Rachel's hand to lay in the very scant amount of space between their bodies. She started to play with tanned fingers, fascinatedly tracing the lines on Rachel's palm with her fingertip.

The brunette watched Quinn's finger making their journey across her open hand, kept her brown eyes locked on the single digit as her heart raced at the agonizingly slow contact. Her eyes fluttered close when long, pale fingers intertwine with her own, a content sigh escaping her lips at the established connection.

Since the beginning, every touch between the two girls had been laced with more meaning than it should. For them, it should have been an innocent touch between friends who cared for one another. And while that was true, they both knew for certain, in the case of themselves, that there was so much more buried underneath. There was a subtext that was  _ dying _ to burst out and become just plain text. The intense looks of longing that they shared, the ones they knew they were giving but didn’t realize that they were  _ sharing _ ; it all built up a tension that inflamed and electrified every nerve in them. It made them feel so alive and it made them want. All it really came to now was whether they would be able to let go of the fears that had contantly been holding them back.

Rachel felt the heat of a whispered breath blowing against her cheek and she blinked her eyes open to see hazel eyes looking into her own, intensely searching and quickly dismantling her with every second that they stayed on her. The brunette's focus immmediately fell to soft pink lips, finding it especially difficult to look away.

A fierce blush rose in her cheeks when she noticed where Rachel's attention went. “Rachel, I-” she started, only to be interrupted by Rachel who suddenly jumped away, nearly falling off the bed if it weren't for her cat-like reflexes that allowed her to land on her feet.

She brushed shaky fingers through her hair, her words coming out in a rushed babble as Quinn gaped at her in surprise, “We- I-  _ I _ should get to sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow for my morning elliptical and then there's dance class and you need your rest and you're seeing Noah tomorrow-”

Quinn cut her off, “Yeah, you're right. I am feeling... tired,” the blonde frowned as she made a move to get off the bed, trying to chase away the hurt as she belatedly realized that they had actually been leaning towards each other. She was still trying to get over the whiplash from Rachel's sudden movements but she couldn’t help but think that this felt a little like rejection.

\---

Rachel was switching on her laptop, wondering if she should just put off uploading a new Myspace video for today as it was already quite late and it wouldn’t be very likely that she’d get her much-needed eight hours of sleep tonight. Also, she didn’t really think that she could put in her all to her performance as her mind was currently stuck on replay, repeating what happened just before Quinn left her room. She berated herself for letting herself getting caught in the moment that they were sharing. She was  _ so _ close. Just  _ one _ more second, just a  _ couple _ more inches and she was pretty sure that  _ something _ would have happened. She had to be imagining things when she thought she saw Quinn leaning closer to her though, right? She  _ had _ to, because there really was just no way that Quinn wanted it too.

Right?

She sighed. Maybe she should have taken that leap, that chance, that  _ risk _ . It was just that she,  _ panicked _ and her flight response kicked in. Rachel hated being obstructed by her fear that Quinn might push her away, and especially her anxiety that she was just too inexperienced for this. Sure, she wasn’t a stranger to  _ kissing _ , having kissed Finn and Noah but still, kissing a girl must be different somehow, must  _ feel _ different too. And added to that what she had with either boy wasn't really anything compared to what she had with Quinn and they were only  _ friends _ . 

She could barely contain the butterflies in her stomach, just  _ thinking _ about what it would be like to be more than just friends. But then what if kissing Quinn ruined everything they had built since the moment Rachel found her in the backstage of the auditorium? It was the most convincing reason to  _ not _ take that chance because Rachel had never had a friend like Quinn before, somebody who actually liked and accepted her for who she was, even if who she was annoyed them some of the time. It actually made her laugh sometimes how when Quinn insulted her now, Rachel knew it was more in a teasing nature rather than a hurtful one.

Another sigh escaped her lips. That was just the thought of kissing Quinn. What about actually  _ talking _ about her feelings for the girl? That was a completely different issue altogether. Being in friend-mode was easy. Talking to Quinn as Friend-Rachel was easy, but the very idea of attempting to talk to Quinn as Maybe-Potential-Girlfriend-Rachel? Simply  _ terrifying _ .

When her Friend-mask slipped and she looked at Quinn in the way that she used to look at Finn or sometimes Noah, she wasn’t really sure how she's able to function at all. There was this blistering heat taking over, practically  _ overwhelming _ her entire being, her palms got sweaty and her mind was swirling with all these flowery, poetic words that she wanted to say. But none of what she wanted to say seemed to feel... Enough. 

Rachel didn’t think that there were enough words in the world to describe just how Quinn made her feel. The connection that they shared, the one that she mentioned to Finn the other day, she  _ knew _ in the deepest of her heart that it was there. Rachel could deny many things but she couldn't deny the existence of that connection that came to life when she and Quinn were locked in a deep stare. The earth could move at the speed of lightning and the seasons could change but Rachel wouldn't feel anything, wouldn't notice  _ anything _ , and wouldn’t  _ know _ anything that was outside of those hazel eyes. It was only the owner of those eyes who moved her, shook her and grounded her, all at the same time.

_ “How can I stand here with you, and not be moved by you?” _ she sang softly, reverting, in true Rachel Berry fashion, to song. It truly was the only way that Rachel knew how to say what was going on in her mind and her heart.

She turned around when she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. Since it was already open, Rachel was met with the sight of Quinn looking positively cute in her pyjamas. Rachel greeted the pregnant girl with a crooked smile, “Hey you, shouldn’t you be resting in bed by now?” she asked, turning back to type her password to log in to her Myspace account.

Since she left the room a few minutes ago and once the hurt that Rachel pulled away from her, all Quinn could see were dark brown eyes boring into her own, drawing her closer and she just knew that had Rachel not stopped it, their lips would have met. And it would have been  _ glorious _ , she just knew it. Just as she knew that Rachel was more than aware of what was about to happen between them and  _ wanted _ it. She saw that look on Rachel’s face. It might have been awhile since anybody paid that kind of attention to her but Quinn still remembered what desire looked like on a person and she could see it written plainly on Rachel’s face. 

At the very least, Quinn now knew that Rachel  _ wanted _ her and that it was fear that had gotten the best of the brunette. And Quinn knew then that she wasn't going to get any sleep if she didn't go back to try. She didn’t want to take the chance that Rachel might or might not bring it up again tomorrow, in the face of a brand new day. As soon as she was dressed in her sleepwear, she walked purposefully out of her room, Rachel's room her target destination.

She was actually standing there in the doorway, watching Rachel moving around her room, watching as the diva lost herself in her deep thoughts with a cute frown on her face. Quinn loved observing Rachel in her quieter moments when the diva was unaware of anybody’s attention on her. And when Rachel sang those words out, her voice so quiet and so strong, Quinn just knew that it had been for her and it propelled her into action, knocking on the door before she could stop herself.

As she watched Rachel taking a seat, Quinn's skin was prickling with the knowledge of what she was about to do and she took in a deep breath, her heart beating wildly against the inside of her chest. There was no backing out of this, no other way to do this but to just go ahead and say what had been dwelling inside her for so long. Perhaps she should have taken just a few minutes to gather her words beforehand, because just looking at Rachel right now was leaving Quinn a little bit at a loss for words but it was too late. She was here now and she was just going to have to grab the bull by the horns or whatever.

Rachel yelped in shock, barely managing to not fall off her chair when she was very abruptly swivelled around to come face to face with the blonde who then rested her hands on either side of the chair. Rachel was about to reprimand Quinn for not warning her but there was something in hazel eyes that stopped her. Rachel thought it looked a lot like determination and she dilatorily noticed just how close Quinn was, her slowing heartbeat soed back up again and she found herself in need of water. She watched dumbly as Quinn seemed to be bracing herself to say something and Rachel felt a  _ spark _ of anticipation in the pit of her stomach, spreading throughout her body.

She forced herself to take her time, focusing on breathing in and out to pacify the tremulous storm inside her.  There was no rush, she knew. The patient look on Rachel's face confirmed that and somehow Quinn knew that Rachel would wait for her for as long as it took. But Quinn didn’t want to make her wait too long. At a slow, deliberate pace, Quinn moved her hands from the arm-rests to take Rachel’s, holding them gently in her own. 

She tugged the girl up to stand as she stared into the brown eyes that she had come to adore so deeply. There were moments when she looked at Rachel and Quinn really wondered to herself how she never saw it. How she was so adamant about not seeing how beautiful Rachel truly was and Quinn just had this sense of self-loathing for how incredibly  _ blind _ she was. And to think that she could have missed out on this...

Her vision suddenly blurred and Quinn realized that her eyes were welling with tears of partly knowing just how close she was to not knowing what it was like to have Rachel look at her without a shadow of distrust in those piercing brown eyes. Quinn's mouth opened and closed, her words never making it out of her, prevented by the crippling apprehension that she was about to lay herself bare, about to show the cards that she had been holding so close to her chest. She stopped trying at the touch of Rachel's warm hand on her cheek and sharply breathed in when a tanned thumb was fruitlessly swiping away the tears that fell. It was all just so much,  _ too _ much and Quinn looked away in shame, embarrassed that she couldn't seem to do this.

“Quinn,” she heard Rachel whisper, soft and pleading for her to turn back but her darted stubbornly everywhere else around the room, everywhere but where she should be looking, where she  _ wanted _ to be looking, “Quinn, look at me,” the diva demanded sternly but the blonde vehemently shook her head in reply, not realizing the ache that she was stirring in Rachel with her avoidance.

Her heart broke even more at seeing the wetness leaking down tightly-shut hazel eyes, feeling her own eyes brimming with tears. She raised her other hand to cup the other side of Quinn’s cheek and the blonde shut her eyes as Rachel pulled her closer until her forehead rested against Quinn’s temple. “Quinn please, I hate seeing you cry,” she whispered desperately, her brown eyes closing as she felt the girl breathe.

Quinn heard the agony in Rachel's voice and her hazel eyes blinked open, remorse so plain to see.  “I’m sorry,” she breathed, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. She shifted slightly so that their foreheads rested against each other, taking in a lungful of the brunette’s scent at the same time. She brought her hands up to the small hands on her face, keeping them there.

“Don’t be sorry,” Rachel told her. “Just, tell me what’s going on in that head of yours. Why are you sorry, Quinn?”

The blonde slowly shook her head. “I’m not- I don’t think I’m brave or strong enough, Rach,” she choked out, biting down on her trembling lip when Rachel buried her fingers in Quinn's blonde hair, lightly scraping her scalp in a soothing manner.

Rachel frowned at Quinn's self-deprecating tone. “You're wrong,” she snapped, hazel eyes widening at the ferocity burning in her brown eyes. “There is  _ nothing _ in the world that you can’t do. You’re the strongest and bravest person that I know, Quinn Fabray,” she uttered, softening towards the end, punctuating her words with a tender smile for the blonde.

“How do you do that?” the blonde asked, breathless in her wonder as her heart swelled at the earnestness of Rachel's words. Rachel frowned, her head tilting in question and Quinn clarified, “Believe in me so easily, I mean.”

Rachel stared curiously at Quinn, taking in watery hazel eyes as the pad of her fingers lovingly stroked her cheek. She shrugged, shaking her head slightly, “I just do,” she said, saying it as if there shouldn't be a question about how she could believe in the blonde at all. The smile that blonde gave her in reply was brilliant and disarming.

Something swelled in her chest at the diva's heartfelt words and strengthened her. Rachel  _ believed _ in her. There were no words that Quinn could say that could ever fully express how she felt knowing this. It wasn’t that she didn't know this already, but to hear it out loud? It made it real, and injected just a little bit more truth to it.

She could do this. She was  _ Quinn Fabray _ and if Rachel said that there was nothing she couldn’t do, well, she was just going to have to put it to the test, wasn’t she?

Taking in a deep, nervous breath, Quinn started, “Rachel, I-” she stalled, realizing once again that she didn’t actually  _ have _ the right words and she racked through her brain because yes, she did need the right words, because this was  _ Rachel Berry _ and she deserved the  _ right freaking words _ , because this was the moment that Quinn wanted Rachel to remember for the rest of her life and for that autobiography that she was sure that Rachel wanted to write after she was famous.

When it hit her, Quinn mentally rolled her eyes at herself for being such an idiot because god, the answer had been  _ right there _ all along.

Rachel saw the spark when the blonde's lovely features brightened and for the umpteenth time, she wished to trade her sixth sense for the ability to read minds. She opened her mouth to ask when Quinn suddenly placed a hand on Rachel’s chest, feeling the hard thumps against her palm. Brown eyes widened at the gesture, blushing because there was no hiding at how fast her heart paced right now, how fast it had been going since she had been in proximity to the blonde. Then slowly, as the girls remained in a locked stare, Quinn took Rachel's hand off her cheek, moving it to rest on her own chest, letting the brunette feel the thundering of her own heart.

_ "I want somebody who sees me, and all they feel, is the harmony of our hearts beating together," the brunette said softly, a deep yearning echoing in her voice. _

It felt like such a long time had passed but it was only a few days ago that Rachel said those words. Quinn knew the moment Rachel remembered, the moment she got what Quinn was trying to demonstrate, when there was a look of awe on her face and it was almost the same look she got when she was on stage, singing her heart out. It truly was one of the most beautiful sights that Quinn had ever seen.

Quinn then wrapped her arm around the brunette's waist and Rachel did the same in return. They pulled each other close until there was no space left in between them. Rachel sighed, about to rest her head in the crook of Quinn's neck but the blonde took the girl by surprise when she started to softly sing,  _ “You calm the storms, and you give me rest. You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall. You still my heart, and you take my breath away. Would you take me in, take me deeper now?” _

She was no stranger to having somebody sing to her but to hear Quinn's sweet voice, huskily crooning one of her favourite songs as they lazily swayed together... It left Rachel kind of breathless. They had stopped their dance, their hands still resting over the other's heart and as if by agreement, Rachel could feel both organs racing harder than ever and still in harmony with each other. She looked up into hazel eyes and she saw that they were waiting for her to make the next move. The room was silent and there was no sound as Quinn waited patiently. She traced Quinn's beautiful face with her eyes, settling finally on her full lips and just like before, Rachel found herself in a trance, unable to look away.

Quinn cursed the need for air when her breath caught and it was so audible that it harshly jolted Rachel out of her trance, making her realize just what she was about to do. The moment was lost when brown eyes widened in horror, “Quinn, oh god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-” but the blonde rushed to press two fingers to Rachel’s lips, halting apologies in their tracks.

“No,” she said heatedly, shaking her head as her grip tightened around Rachel when the brunette started to squirm. “Please don't break the spell,” Quinn added in a quiet whisper and Rachel stopped, letting the entreating words sink into her brain and in her heart.

“Not yet,” Quinn begged softly. Seconds passed as Rachel stared up at her in wonder, until finally the brunette nodded wordlessly, relief coursing through that she hadn’t been pushed away. She prayed that this was a good sign and while a part of her was hopeful, there was still that part of her that was afraid that this could be the end. She tightened her arms around Rachel, receiving an answering squeeze from the diva as well.

And there they stood, in the middle of Rachel’s bedroom, eyes fluttering close as they lost themselves in the beauty of the embrace that they were sharing and their hearts beating wildly in anticipation of the conversation to come.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, I worked on this for nearly a whole day because I didn't want to leave you on that cliffhanger. So here you go, chock-full of Faberry and enjoy!

Some time had passed since Quinn stopped Rachel from pushing her away, since Quinn begged Rachel to stay in the moment and not let go. Rachel's laptop was still switched on, her screensaver on display as the girls, in unspoken agreement, moved to Rachel’s bed, laying down with their bodies facing each other. There were only a few inches of space between them, space that allowed them to think just clearly enough and not get so intoxicated by each other that they forgot the reason why they were in this position in the first place. Their hands, intertwined and folded in each other's, laid between them as their only connection. 

They had never had a problem connecting with physical affection, whether it was their hands linking together or arms wrapped comfortable around each other. But this time-  _ this _ time, the wall that had been keeping their feelings guarded from the other had broken down. The emotional boundary that had been protecting them was gone, and they could  _ feel _ its absence, that  _ difference _ as they locked in a stare. It was that feeling you got when you were on a roller-coaster and you had reached the very top, waiting-  _ anticipating _ the plunge that was surely to come.

Rachel watched avidly as a delicate sigh escaped Quinn’s pink lips. “You- you almost kissed me,” she heard Quinn say, low in a whisper and husky in such a way that was so inviting that Rachel’s eyelashes fluttered and the breath that her lungs released was ragged, shaky, as her body trembled with want at the alluring timbre of the blonde’s voice.

Quinn felt the storm, the chaos that raged inside her, tempered down by Rachel’s touch, her deep chocolate stare and her presence. She didn’t know how Rachel did it. How she managed to make Quinn so out of place- so  _ out of control _ , but so put together at the same time. Right now, she was pure  _ need _ . She needed to be closer to Rachel, needed to curl deep in the brunette’s arms until she knew nothing else but the warmth and safety of Rachel’s embrace, and most of all? She  _ really _ needed to kiss Rachel, to passionately fuse soft, full lips with her own until her lungs were burning for air to breathe, until her heart was aching for strength to beat, until her world consisted of nobody else but her and the girl in front of her.

“I- yes,” she stammered, swallowing nervously, waiting anxiously.

“Why?” the blonde asked.

Rachel only shook her head, her eyes shifting downwards to focus intently on the mattress, tracing the complicated lines and curves that designed the bed sheet. “I don't know,” she mumbled shamefully, though her face showed very clearly that she  _ did _ know. She raised her eyes back up to meet discerning hazel eyes that weren't angry at her for trying to lie. In fact, Quinn looked like she actually understood why Rachel tried to do that and the guilt amplified, and Rachel berated herself for denying it because Quinn  _ deserved _ the truth. She breathed in deeply, “Please don't hate me,” she begged hastily and she bit down on her quivering lip, ordering herself to keep it together.

The blonde’s brows dropped into a frown, taken aback by the despaired plea. Her heart clenched tightly and so painfully at the sight of haunted brown eyes and she just wanted to make it all disappear. There was a choking feeling in her throat, seeing those big pools of brown looking at her with such  _ anguish _ that her voice trembled, “How could I ever?” as she lightly squeezed Rachel’s hand in reassurance.

Rachel's head shook and she closed her eyes. She knew this was going to be difficult but she never thought it would be on this scale, to the point where words ran around in her brain faster than she could catch them. But then she looked down to their hands lying between them, so seamless and effortless in their connection and it gave Rachel the courage she needs. “You're my friend, Quinn,” she started softly as she brushed errant locks of her hair away from her face. “Sometimes I think you're my  _ best _ friend. But there are times when I look at you and think- I think,” she paused briefly to stare into hazel eyes, hoping that Quinn could see the plain truth in hers, and her words came in a hopeless sigh, “ _ God _ , I wish she's mine’.”

The blonde tried to hide the sharp intake of breath but when she saw Rachel wince, she knew that she wasn't very successful. Quinn didn’t know what to say. If it wasn't for the fact that she could feel Rachel's warm hand still clasping hers, Quinn would actually think that she was dreaming because every word sounded like something only dream-Rachel would say to her. But no, this  _ was _ real, so very real as her heart picked up its pace and she realized that she had taken too long to respond when brown eyes looked down shamefully and Rachel was trying to retract her hand as she brokenly whispered of how she understood if Quinn now hated her and wanted to leave, but to at least wait until the morning and that she would help her pack- and Quinn couldn't bear to hear any more. 

She tightly reclaimed the retreating hand and pressed the fingers of her other hand to the brunette's lips, forcing her to stop talking. The smaller girl looked back up, her brown eyes opened wide and brimming with tears that tugged harshly on Quinn's heart-strings. She scooted closer to the brunette, hoping her proximity to the girl would show that she had absolutely  _ no _ intention of leaving. “Rachel,” she started softly, “I  _ didn't _ stop you, remember?” Rachel responded only with a confused frown, obviously trying to remember every little detail of what happened and Quinn pressed on, “Doesn't that tell you something? Doesn't that tell you that I  _ wanted _ that kiss? Rachel, I have wanted this-” she paused to hold up their joined hands, “I've wanted  _ you _ for so long. I'm not even sure anymore how long, and I know that sounds like such a cop-out but it feels like- it just feels like it has  _ always _ been like this, you know? Like, I don't remember a time when I  _ didn't _ feel this.” 

Quinn felt her nerves taking over when Rachel said nothing, making her want so desperately to backtrack and she shut her eyes close as she berated herself for being such an  _ idiot _ with her words because really, did that even make  _ any _ sense? 

In the midst of Quinn cursing and frowning to herself, Rachel quietly and calmly asked, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“When would have been the best time for me to realize how much I want you, Rach? Back when I was telling my minions to dump slushies on you, or when I was busy drawing those ugly pictures of you in the bathroom?” Quinn instantly flinched, regretting her snappish comment when she felt Rachel's hand tense, making her fingernails press uncomfortably into Quinn's hand. She didn't mean to let that come out so bitingly but she was just so anxious about showing so much of herself. 

Quinn just wasn’t used to that, despite having lived with the Berry family for this long. It was hard to break the habit of keeping her cards close to her chest that she had been taught since she was old enough to know and for just that one small moment, the old Quinn Fabray was angry with herself that she had showed so much  _ weakness _ and vulnerability to Rachel Berry, of all people and she lashed out. But she hadn't been  _ that _ Quinn Fabray in so long that the guilt washed over her quicker than it used to and she looked to Rachel, knowing that the brunette was most likely having her own flashback to those days as well when she noted the girl's unfocused eyes. 

She scolded herself for being unable to restrain her  _ rapier _ wit because hello, she was supposed to be  _ trying _ to get the girl, not push her away. She moved her thumb to stroke over the back of the tanned hand in hers. “I'm sorry, Rachel,” she whispered apologetically when the brunette's eyes cleared up and lookingednat her intensely. Quinn averted her gaze, not wanting to see the disappointment that she was sure was being directed at her.

Her heart wretched at the sight of remorseful hazel eyes and Rachel carried the blonde's hand up to softly plant her lips on pale skin, bringing Quinn's attention back to her. The diva gave her a small reassuring smile. “Babe, it's okay,” she whispered in return, “I know you didn't mean it. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay?” she quietly demanded, waiting until she got a hesitant nod from the girl. 

She let out a deep sigh, falling back onto her bed to face the ceiling and then brushed her hair back as she tried to articulate the reason for her silence. “It's just that, I'm  _ still _ trying to make sense of what's happening here. I mean, I  _ know _ what's happening here but it's not- my head just doesn't seem to be accepting it?”

Hazel eyes roamed over a tanned profile, appreciating the precious pout of Rachel's lips and adoring the perplexed expression on her face. Even with a little distance between them, she could feel the heat coming from Rachel that was sending her body signals that was  _ definitely _ not appropriate for this conversation. Damning her pregnancy hormones, she forcibly shook her head out of her aroused state. 

Quinn took in a deep breath, taking a moment to gather her words, hoping that they would be much more articulate and that Rachel could accept them. Rachel finally turned to meet her eyes and with her voice so quiet and unwavering, she uttered, “I  _ really _ like you, Rachel. Actually no, I'm pretty sure that it has definitely progressed to  _ more _ than that. And I- I want you,” and she paused, feeling her face getting hot that she actually managed to say that without passing out.

She wanted to add more, but damn it, she didn't know what else she  _ could _ say and god, she wanted this so much that it was robbing her ability to think, or  _ breathe _ . Though the blonde was afraid, practically itching to crawl outside of her skin, she wasn’t going to take back her words. Quinn had no regrets at all. When she looked closely at the brunette, she thought she saw a spark in her brown eyes and a little twitch of a smile that lit a flame of hope in Quinn's heart.

Rachel changed position to bodily face the blonde again. Questioning brown eyes locked with hopeful hazel ones, “Quinn, I-” she paused to take in a deep breath, and the blonde's scent invaded her senses and she allowed it to wash over her, calming her own nerves, “I'm not really sure how to phrase this without sounding so painfully middle school,” she closed her eyes, chuckling lightly to herself at this, “but, I really,  _ really _ , like you too.” Rachel opened her eyes to see excitement burning in hazel eyes and it slowly fed into her own as she went on, “And I am just as certain that it has progressed to more than that. And I-” she lowered her eyes, willing herself not to blush furiously despite the heat already settling in her cheeks, “I want you too.”

Quinn pushed herself up to rest on her elbow and the smile on her face was so bright that she was sure it could rival Rachel's perfected Broadway smile. Disbelief ran through her, unable to grasp onto the fact that this was actually happening. “So, what exactly is stopping you from finishing what you started?” she asked lightly, referring to the kiss. Rachel took her by surprise when she suddenly placed a hand on her swollen stomach and they both felt the responding thump, reminding the both of them of  _ her _ presence. Quinn's smile dropped immediately as the brunette offered her a wistful smile.

Even though Rachel had come to love the little life that was currently growing inside the girl that she was falling for, sometimes she couldn’t help but feel like she was overstepping where Noah should be. There had been times when she looked at him and she could clearly see that he was wishing to stand where she was, right beside Quinn, supporting her and holding her hand every step of the way. 

And though Quinn had been involving him in every aspect of the pregnancy such as getting him to do craving runs, going to see the doctor together, and even tomorrow where they’d be going through names of families that could possibly adopt their little girl, Rachel knew. He wants to be where she is. “Surely the person you should want to be with is her father, not some random girl. And who's to say that you won't want him again?” she asked, shrugging dejectedly at the same time.

“ _ I _ say so,” Quinn replied emphatically, squeezing the hand in hers. “That ship has sailed a  _ long _ time ago and don't you think if I wanted Puck, I would have gone to him already? And excuse me, you're not just some random girl that I happened to look at and think 'Oh yeah, I want  _ her _ '. You're Rachel and I want  _ you _ ,” she said with conviction, making certain that Rachel knew that she had no doubt whatsoever about just who Quinn wanted.

It wouldn’t be easy. If they took this step of actually being together, Rachel knew it wouldn’t be. Not for them. And even more so for Quinn because this was the kind of life she was taught  _ not _ to live. And Rachel didn't want that for Quinn, didn't want her to live a hard life like her parents did when they first got to Lima. Even now, there were still times when they were approached by people who thought they knew more about what God wanted, who thought they knew  _ better _ . And not forgetting that they were still in a high school where people threw slushies at others for  _ fun _ . It made her scared for Quinn. 

But Rachel forgot to take in account Quinn's stubborn nature. 

“I know it won't be easy, Rachel. I  _ know _ this. I've seen it too, remember?” she reminded her. There had been times when they went out with Rachel's dads, receiving poorly-veiled looks of disgust and hatred; ones that made the looks of pity that Quinn received in school from her peers seem like nothing. It scared her at first and she wanted to keep her head down to hide her face, but when she saw the three members of the Berry family still walking with their heads held high while brushing it all off like they didn't matter, Quinn knew, that was the kind of courage that she wanted to own. She understood even more that it was their love for each other that made them brave because they were being brave for their family. And now, she was going to be brave, for Rachel.

Rachel's brown eyes were pained and watery, brimming with unshed tears and they prompted Quinn to move even closer, wanting even more contact with the brunette as she nuzzled her nose with Rachel's. “And if there is  _ one _ thing your parents have taught me,” she whispered, “is that easy doesn't matter if you're not happy. And your dads? They're so  _ ridiculously _ happy together; sometimes it actually kind of makes me want to gag. But  _ I _ want that. I  _ want _ somebody who can make me so ridiculously happy that it makes somebody want to gag. Preferably Santana,” she quipped unexpectedly and Rachel let out a soft laugh that unburdened her aching heart. Her smile dropped a little as she tried to convey every ounce of want and need through her eyes as they locked with brown ones. “Rachel, there are  _ so _ many things that you make me feel and ridiculously happy? That's just  _ one _ of them. And maybe I'm being selfish but I don't want to give that up.”

“I don't want to give  _ you _ up.”

She didn't expect this at all, this show of strength and sincerity. And it touched Rachel so deeply that Quinn was being so courageous and so bold. Her sight blurred from the tears that still refused to fall as a feeling of awe and pride came over her, that the blonde had come so far from the girl that she used to be. Rachel sighed shakily, Quinn's whispered words rendering her completely breathless. The blonde was saying all the right things and Rachel could feel her heart's desperation to respond, racing and banging hard against her rib-cage. 

Suddenly the blonde's arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer, with their hands still connected between them. Rachel automatically wrapped her own arm around the taller girl's shoulders and leaned up to press their foreheads together. She felt Quinn’s warm breath over her lips as she asked in a careful whisper, “You do want this, don't you?” and Rachel tried to nod but due to their nearness, brought her hand up to cup the back of the blonde's neck instead, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I  _ do _ . I’m pretty sure the fact that  _ I _ was the one that initiated the first move earlier indicates  _ very _ clearly that I do,” Rachel replied with a shy blush that deepened when a feathery kiss was placed on her cheek.

Quinn’s lips tingled from the contact of baby-soft skin as her temple moved to rest on Rachel’s, their cheeks just barely grazing each other’s. “Then, what is it?” she asked. “It's not like you’re going to lose me or anything,” she added jokingly and she would have chuckled if it weren't for Rachel stiffening in her embrace and it was as if the room turned deadly silent at her question. It naturally worries Quinn and she pulled back to look at the quiet brunette who had her lips set in such a tight line, and her eyes clamped shut, swerving to hide from Quinn. “Rachel,” she called out softly but the diva only whimpered, a sound that tightened  _ something _ in Quinn's chest as she waited for Rachel's eyelids to lift, yearning to see her beautiful dark eyes. But Rachel persisted in her avoidance. “Rach, come on. Please  _ talk _ to me,” she begged.

Rachel opened her eyes at the pleading tone, hating that she was the reason for the hurt that was easy to catch, hating that she couldn’t just come out and say what it was she was so afraid of, that was stopping them from taking that next step together. She chewed worriedly on her lip as she looked up to meet pensive hazel eyes and she felt that now-familiar stirring inside that only Quinn could cause. It was so strong and so vibrant, much stronger and more vibrant than it had ever been for Finn. “What if I do or say something that’ll make you change your mind and you decide that I’m not worth the trouble?” she asked ever so timidly. Hearing Quinn just say out loud what was essentially one of her worse fears, even in jest, scared her more than anything else ever had before.

She wishes that it hadn't but hearing that made Quinn stop, made her pull away completely from Rachel because god, that really  _ hurt _ and she couldn’t believe that Rachel was even questioning her like that. Though she knew instinctively that this couldn’t have anything to do with her, that it was only a projection of Rachel's fear, Quinn still felt her heart squeezing so painfully that it was practically choking her. “How could you even say that to me?” she asked, hurt and in disbelief.

Rachel knew who she was. She knew that she was talented and that she was going to be a star and pursued that dream with an intensity unlike anything that anybody had ever seen. It would make sense that this very same intensity would bleed over into everything else that she did, such as school, Glee and up until a few months ago, Finn, when he became one of her dreams. But for awhile now, she had been having a new dream where a one Quinn Fabray featured very prominently. Quinn who had successfully managed to dance her way into Rachel's heart, leaving her mark under Rachel's skin until it was only her touch and her warmth that Rachel truly craved. 

Finn might have never said as much but Rachel knew very well that though yes, he was interested, he was also scared and intimidated by her single-minded pursuit to win over his heart. Would Quinn be the same? She couldn’t deny that having the blonde moving away from her had a jarring effect, like the pain of an addict going through withdrawal where Quinn was her drug that had been taken away from her. And Rachel was powerless, wanting to reach out to the girl but not wanting to do anything that would make her pull away even more. “I just- I don’t want to scare you away,” she uttered helplessly and defeatedly. Her brown eyes clamped shut when Quinn scoffed out loud.

The blonde couldn't help it. Did Rachel have so little faith in herself to think that there was  _ anything _ she could do to make Quinn leave? She shook her head because she couldn’t believe it, couldn't believe that Rachel could think a thing like that. But the truth so plain to see, that even with her confidence and her self-awareness, Rachel was just as vulnerable too. 

She slowly approached the girl, moving her hand up to gently touch Rachel's cheek. Tortured mahogany-coloured eyes revealed themselves to her and Quinn sighed because god, even in her sadness, Rachel was so strikingly beautiful. Her thumb tenderly stroked the tanned skin in her palm. “Rach, I’m  _ already _ scared,” she started, and when the diva's eyes widened in horror, she quickly shook her head, softly exclaiming, “No.  _ Not _ of you.  _ Never _ of you. But because... this  _ feels _ different, you know? Like so much more than anything I've ever known before, and that just scares the hell out of me. But I’m  _ still _ here and I'm not planning on going anywhere.”

“I  _ want _ you,” the blonde murmured. “So be scared  _ with _ me, Rachel. You've been looking after me for so long and now, I'm going to look after you. We’ll look after each other,” she vowed, grabbing Rachel's hand to place over her chest as she placed her other hand on Rachel's, feeling their hearts beating in tandem with each other. Rachel was right. There  _ was _ a certain kind of harmony to this synchronicity and Quinn didn't think that she could ever tire of it.

Her lips quivered, begging to let out a tearful cry, so deeply moved by Quinn's words as they embraced her in their promise. She wasn’t being fair to Quinn, she realized. The blonde had been nothing but truly open with her about her feelings and yet Rachel was simply refusing to tell her just why she was so frightened of the idea of even trying, conflicting directly with her desire and need to try. She leaned her face further into Quinn's palm, nuzzling against it, seeking more contact as she placed her own hand on a pale cheek. 

She smiled weakly then looked down to the little space that was between them, taking a deep breath before finally quietly saying, “Finn may have been the one to make me cry and break my heart but I have always managed to bounce back from it, from him,” she paused, taking in the passionate hazel eyes in front of her and she shook her head, a wistful smile on her lips, “but I don't think I'd ever be able to recover from  _ you _ .”

And there it was. The reason that Quinn had been waiting for since this conversation began. At first she found it disconcerting, unsettling that she seemed to have so much power over Rachel but then she thought about how she would be like if she were to lose Rachel too. She felt this  _ crippling _ ache and it made Quinn haphazardly scramble around to gather Rachel into her, paying no mind to the brunette's surprised squeak because she just wanted, she  _ needed _ to feel Rachel, to calm the wild tempest that was inside her. When tanned arms finally circle around her, Quinn grasped onto the fact that yeah, the feeling was  _ very _ mutual and she could see why Rachel was afraid of trying. 

She withdrew a little, bringing her hands up to carefully cradle Rachel's face, holding her like she was the most precious thing as her thumbs softly grazed over the apple of her cheeks, carefully wiping away at the falling tears. Her sigh was shaky and her voice was filled with her own unshed tears. “I- I can't promise you that I won't break your heart, Rachel. I can only promise that I will always be honest with you.”

_ "Isn't that supposed to be the whole point of being in love? So that you take that risk of getting your heart broken?" _

She never thought that it would be Finn Hudson who would be her voice of reason, telling her that it was okay, that it was  _ better _ to take the chance than never at all. And Rachel knew that she couldn't ask for more than what Quinn was offering and she was glad that the blonde had discerned just how much she prized honesty in a relationship. Her eyes closed at the touch of warm hands holding her so tenderly. 

She  _ couldn’t _ lose this. She didn't want to lose out on knowing what it felt like to have Quinn be with her in the way she had been dreaming for so long now, on knowing what her lips tasted like, on knowing what it was like to have Quinn look at her with such love, like she was the only one that she saw.

“Even when I'm annoying you?” she asked, taking the blonde's hands off her face, linking their fingers together as she nervously bit down on her lip.

Rachel's unexpected question after such a long silence took her by surprise and the unsure smile on her lips and the meaningful expression in her dark eyes confused Quinn. It wasn’t until the brunette slowly nodded, that Quinn finally got it, that she heard Rachel's unspoken words and Quinn's weak laugh combining with her sob of relief. Yes. She was  _ saying _ yes. 

Rachel was saying  _ yes _ .

“ _ Especially _ when you're annoying me. Like right now, you’re annoying me because you’re not letting me kiss you,” she declared with a teasing smile that widened when they shared a laugh at her jest and it completely broke the previous tension between them. With the way the conversation had been going, she truly thought that she was never going to know what it felt like to love Rachel the way that she wanted to. She shook her head in disbelief as she tried to bite back the smile that was sure to be on her face, the very same smile that she was seeing on Rachel's.

“I'm sorry I'm being so difficult about this. It's not that I don't want to be with you because I do. I really,  _ really _ do. It's just that Finn-” Rachel's apologetic ramble was interrupted by Quinn's fingers on her lips as the blonde smiled reassuringly at her.

“It's okay, Rachel. I understand.” After the disaster that was her almost-relationship with Finn,  _ of course _ the brunette would be gun-shy about starting a new  _ actual _ relationship. Especially when it was somebody who used to bully her. Who  _ wouldn't _ be unsure? Quinn took in a deep, steadying breath, hoping that she wasn’t going to regret her next move, “If you want, we can go slow. Like,  _ glacial _ slow. If you want,” she said, reiterating her offer that made brown eyes widen in surprised awe.

“Really? You would do that?”

Quinn shrugged, smiling crookedly. “Well, I'm not exactly  _ ecstatic _ by the idea of it since y'know, I've wanted to kiss you for a long time now but yeah, for you, I  _ would _ do that, Rach.” The brunette's lips pressed against her cheek in grateful reply and Quinn felt her heart lightened. Like it was floating on air, like it wanted to sing, like it was finally  _ free _ .

Though now she did feel a little worn as if she had just gone through some sort of battle and all she wanted to do was slump back down on her bed and just  _ sleep _ . She saw that she wasn’t the only one when Rachel unsuccessfully tried to hide her yawn. Quinn smirked at the adorable sight of sleepy brown eyes fighting to stay awake.

“I'm sorry. I'm usually asleep by now,” Rachel mumbled, smiling sheepishly. Her face flushed in embarrassment that her internal body clock betrayed her. She sighed, pouting slightly because she knew that Quinn had to go back to her room and just the idea of her leaving wasn’t sitting very well with Rachel, especially after the night they had. It was too soon after she decided to make her dream of her and Quinn come true only to have something as silly as the need for  _ rest _ intrude. 

She heard Quinn saying that she was going to let her have her rest and Rachel failed to hold back her whimper when Quinn made to move away from her to get off the bed. She rushed to grab the blonde's wrist, tugging her back. “You- you can stay here tonight. If you want, I mean,” she stuttered apprehensively at questioning hazel eyes, blushing furiously at her daring.

She was surprised by Rachel's offer and her heart raced at the thought of sleeping next to Rachel when there had been so many nights when she wished she could do that very thing. There was still so much that they needed to talk about but Quinn thought that for now, she was just satisfied that Rachel was overruling her fear and letting them actually explore their feelings together. And right now she had two choices: go back to her room where she could sleep  _ alone _ , or stay in the same bed with Rachel that had a very high possibility of waking up next to Rachel? Quinn mentally scoffed to herself. Like there was even a real choice to make in the first place.

Just after both girls crawled under the covers together, they instantly gravitated towards each other, and with their arms wrapping around each other, they whispered their good-nights.

\---

It was early Saturday evening and Quinn was walking through the Berry threshold, taking off her shoes and placed her light jacket on one of the coat-hooks on the door. Ambling into the living room, she found Rachel sprawled on her stomach, presumably sleeping off her tiring day. The blonde took the opportune moment to observe Rachel without the girl knowing and she leaned against the doorway, taking in the diva’s peaceful features and the unconscious pout of full lips. 

Her heart fluttered blissfully and she sighed, still trying to decide whether last night really happened or she was just dreaming again. But when Rachel kissed her cheek this morning before she got out of the car on the Puckerman driveway, Quinn knew. It definitely happened. She closed her eyes as her cheeks warmed over at the phantom memory of lips pressing and then lingering on the softness of her face.

As they had gone to sleep so late last night (or well, later than usual), Rachel had let her sleep in for most of the morning until an hour or so before she had to go for dance class and dropped Quinn off at Puck’s house. It unfortunately also meant that Quinn didn't get to know what it was like to wake up next to Rachel and between them taking showers, getting dressed, eating breakfast together and Quinn getting the papers filled with names of adoptive families together, they didn’t have much time to talk more about last night. 

But somehow Quinn didn’t feel like she wanted to rush it, or needed to even. For now, just knowing that Rachel actually did feel the same way was enough. It eased something inside and it made her feel giddy and lighter than she remembered ever being and it was all because of the sleeping brunette in front of her.

She strolled over to the couch, sitting on the edge, just barely coming into contact with Rachel’s waist. Quinn smiled down at the napping diva as she tenderly brushed her fingers through dark tresses, unintentionally stirring the girl from her slumber. Hazel eyes began to light up when brown eyes sleepily blinked open to meet hers, “Hey,” she softly greeted the brunette, a touch of apology in her tone for waking her up.

Despite the fact that she had just woken up, Rachel smiled brightly, warding off the guilty look on the blonde's face. “Hey you,” she replied groggily, humming contentedly when Quinn resumed her ministrations.

“Any room for me?” Quinn asked bravely, a shy smile playing across her lips.

Finding herself immensely charmed by the blonde's bashful request, Rachel's heart raced faster as she quietly replied, “Always,” grabbing the blonde's hand and tugging her to lay between her and the backrest of the couch. Rachel turned around so that she faced her and the brunette sighed happily at the feel of Quinn's body pressed against hers, wrapping one arm around the blonde to bring them closer together after she realized just how much she missed the blonde even though it had only been a mere few hours since they last saw each other. She moved to grab Quinn's hand, interlacing their fingers together,  “Did Noah send you home?” she asked, wondering why she didn't hear the loud rattling of the mohawked boy's pick-up.

The blonde shook her head in reply, “Puck's mom sent me,” she mumbled, nestling her head onto the diva's shoulder and then nuzzling her nose in the crook of Rachel's neck before adding, “I think he needed some time to process everything.”

Rachel shivered at the breath of hot air sweeping over her neck. It seemed that after last night's revelations, her desires decided to make their presence known, making her rethink her decision to take things so slow between her and Quinn. She closed her eyes in tight concentration, trying to keep her focus on the conversation at hand. “H- how about you?” she asked the suddenly quiet pregnant girl, “Do  _ you _ need time?”

She felt Quinn shaking her head, pulling back to answer, “I actually feel... kind of okay. I mean, we haven’t made a confirmed decision yet, but I feel like I can breathe a little easier.”

The blonde suppressed a bodily shudder when she felt Rachel's hand began to move up and down her back in a comforting motion as the brunette nodded to agree. She felt the gust of air from Rachel's deep sigh and Quinn's hazel eyes closed, letting the rhythmic beat of Rachel's heart soothe her own.

Lifting her head from the brunette's shoulder to meet questioning brown eyes, Quinn whispered softly, “Can we talk about something else?” She bit down on her lip, keeping their eyes locked so Rachel would understand that it wasn't that Quinn didn't want to talk about it with her, just that she was feeling a little tired. It was unsurprisingly an emotionally exhausting day for both her and Puck, and Quinn just wanted to relax and let Rachel's presence bring her that blanket of peace that always happened when the diva is around. 

Quinn sighed, dropping her head back down on Rachel's shoulder as she recalled the look of pure agony on Puck's face while they pored over the list of adoptive families. It hurt her to see her friend in such pain but she was utterly convinced, that it was better for them to be prepared, to have this option open to them. And whatever decision they made, this little girl would grow up knowing who they were and as such, they would never let her forget how much they truly loved her. Not if they could help it anyway.

Feeling the blonde's body curling further into hers, Rachel brought her hand up to silky blonde hair, burying her fingers in them and lightly scratching the scalp. “Let's just sleep for awhile, Quinn, okay? Everything will be better when we wake up,” she softly promised. She felt the blonde shifting slightly to make herself more comfortable and Rachel hummed quietly, hoping that her melody would lull the troubled girl to a restful sleep. When she finally heard even breathing coming from Quinn, brown eyes closed before she joined Quinn in the Land of Nod.

\---

“So what song  _ are _ you singing for Glee? I just realize that you haven't actually told me yet,” Rachel remarked, as the girls sat side by side on the couch in the living room after eating their dinner. They had woken up just a couple of hours ago and they opted to cook instead of ordering takeout. They also decided to take advantage of the room that Rachel's parents usually used to watch television together, to watch a movie instead of in Rachel's room. Not that they minded terribly if it was in Rachel's room but considering that they usually watched while laying on Rachel's  _ bed _ , they thought it best to keep to the living room tonight.

Quinn leaned her head to rest it on the brunette head that was on her shoulder. “I'm not telling you,” the blonde replied, a secretive smile on her lips. She yelped in surprise when Rachel suddenly lifted her head, knocking her own in the process but before she could scold Rachel for not telling her, she melted completely at the sight of the diva's pout. Understanding that Rachel wanted to know why Quinn didn’t want to tell her what song she was performing, she explained, “I want it to be a surprise,” feeling her cheeks starting to blush.

Brown eyes blinked owlishly up at the blonde. “For me?” Rachel asked in awe and wonder that Quinn would do something so romantic for her. A thick lump appeared in her throat when Quinn nodded shyly that yes, the song was for her. Her curiosity began to present itself but Rachel quashed it down, a bigger part of her wanting to be kept in the dark for the time being. 

Though Noah had sung in front of the club to woo her, it was only after she told him that she wanted a strong leading man, and now Quinn was going to be doing the same thing, without even being prompted. It told Rachel that the blonde must have been planning this at least for some time now and the brunette couldn’t help but admit to herself that she might just be a little bit swept off her feet already. She grabbed the blonde’s hand, bringing it up to her lips and letting them linger on the back. She looked up at Quinn from under long, thick eyelashes, “You’re amazing, you know that?” she murmured after putting their joined hands back down in her lap.

Quinn let out a shaky breath at the look in Rachel’s dark eyes and she found herself leaning down. She suddenly stopped when she remembered her promise (though now also partly wondering why Rachel wasn’t stopping her) and her voice came out in a whisper that was laced with unveiled longing, “Rach... You have,  _ no _ idea how badly I want to kiss you right now.”

The diva’s eyes fluttered at Quinn’s bold confession, an electric pulse running up and down her spine. She began to chew down on her bottom lip, a move that inadvertently called the blonde’s attention to her mouth. Rachel’s cheeks flushed red at the naked desire that was so plain to see in the blonde’s penetrating stare. Her mind went blank at the sight of pupils rapidly dilating the longer hazel eyes stayed on her lips and Rachel was seriously wondering at how she was even finding the strength or will power to not lean forward and bridge the gap between them.

A few more seconds passed as Quinn waited patiently, watching Rachel's lips when the girl finally spoke up, “I want to kiss you too,” and the blonde swore that her heart had never raced so fast, the utter unbridled chaos that went on inside her when her eyes finally moved back up to look into heavily-lidded brown eyes.

Rachel leaned forward, only to rest her forehead against the blonde’s and she felt a twinge of guilt at dashing the hopeful light in hazel eyes, “But I’m not ready yet,” she said, shaking her head in apology. She swallowed down a guilty lump, hating that she was the reason for the disappointment that appeared on Quinn’s face and she rushed to apologize, trying her hardest not to cry, “I’m sorry, Quinn. I know it’s stupid that I want to wait and go slow but-”

“You don’t want to rush this,” Quinn finished for her. The blonde smiled knowingly at the look of surprise on Rachel’s face, “You want to get used to this, to knowing that somebody wants you,” she surmised, and at Rachel’s nod she continued in a softer volume, “that  _ I _ want you,” keeping her focus on dark brown eyes that perceptibly widened, and feeling proud when a fierce blush took over the brunette’s cheeks. 

She didn’t stop her hand from rising up to lovingly stroke the girl’s face and she watched as the blush deepened even more. Quinn sighed because god, this girl was so  _ bewitching _ and yes, she wanted to kiss her but  _ only _ when she was ready. She promised last night that she was going to look after Rachel and there was no way that she was going to go back on her word. “It's okay, Rachel and it’s  _ not _ stupid,” the blonde reassured her, hoping the diva understood that she really did get it. When brown eyes finally cleared of guilt and apprehension, Quinn’s hand moved down to cup the smaller girl’s jaw as she gave Rachel a tender smile, “Just know that I’m not going to stop wanting you because, I can’t help it,” she sighed, feeling her still-racing heart as it beat thunderously for the girl in front of her.

Quinn closed her eyes as she pressed her cheek against Rachel’s smooth, tanned one, softly whispering in her ear, “I can never help it when it comes to you.”

\---

When Quinn woke up the next morning, her sleepy hazel eyes were met with a quiet, contemplative Rachel, sitting with her back against the headboard while absent-mindedly brushing her elegant fingers through golden tresses. The silent diva had a far-away gaze in her eyes and Quinn happily noted that Rachel was still in her sleep-wear as her own eyes stealthily and appreciatively trailed over long, tanned legs that were on display. 

Quinn wasn’t too sure what was on Rachel's mind at whatever time it was in the morning but she had more than a feeling that it had something to do with what happened last night. Not that anything  _ happened _ , but she could only hope that her words must have had some impact on the brunette. She could only hope that by revealing to Rachel just how powerless and out-of-control the brunette made  _ her _ feel, it wouldn’t scare her and make her run away from Quinn but instead further convinced just how invested Quinn was in this.

Realizing that Rachel's attention was still somewhere else and consequently wasn’t aware that Quinn had woken up, the blonde shifted until her head rested on Rachel's hip and placed her arm over tanned thighs. She greeted her with a mumbled, “Morning,” and she felt Rachel jump slightly, surprised to find out that Quinn was awake.

“Good morning, beautiful,” she heard the brunette softly murmur in reply and Quinn shook her head, failing to fight off the blush rising in her cheeks. For just a few moments, they enjoyed the quiet moment as Rachel continued to run her fingers through blonde locks with Quinn occasionally purring in pleasure at the sensation of short nails just barely scraping her scalp.

Quinn finally broke the silence to ask, “What's on your mind, Rach? I can practically hear you thinking right now.”

She hesitated to answer, not really wanting to disturb the peaceful moment they were having right now and really she didn’t want to make the blonde worry. But then Rachel felt the blonde's arm lightly squeezed her thighs in whatever reassurance she thought Rachel seemed to need and she knew that Quinn was telling her that she didn't mind waiting until Rachel was ready to tell her. The diva then scooted down so that Quinn's arm laid over her chest instead and their heads rested against each other. 

Rachel sighed deeply, “I was thinking about school tomorrow, and I was just wondering what we're going to do.” When Quinn didn’t reply straightaway, she added, “People are going to  _ flip _ once they find out about us.” There was just no such thing as a well-kept secret in William McKinley High School when it came to the students, and especially not when the secret happened to be about the girl that got regularly slushied and the knocked-up former Head Cheerio.

“To be fair, they  _ did _ go a little crazy when we first started being friends,” was Quinn's reply, along with an amused smirk, recalling the mild uproar they caused when they first started hanging out together. It wasn't such a  _ huge _ scandal but people were still confused by it.

Rachel laughed quietly, “True,” she replied, nodding in agreement. “I think the  _ bigger _ question is how open  _ you're _ willing to be because I have no qualms about showing off to everybody that I managed to snag the formerly- _ untouchable _ Quinn Fabray. It'll earn me some street cred,” she uttered with a proud grin that fell away when Quinn sat up abruptly while giving her an incredulous look.

“Okay, firstly,” she paused to hold up one finger to emphasize her point, while mentally noting to herself that she needed to cut back Rachel's exposure to Puck and Santana because 'street cred'...  _ Really _ ? She dreaded to think about what  _ else _ Rachel could pick up from hanging out with them, “ _ never _ say that,  _ ever _ again. And secondly,” she held up another finger, “I am  _ still _ the untouchable Quinn Fabray. Not even Baby Junior here can change that,” she added with a smirk that widened considerably when it earned an eye-roll and an amused smile from Rachel. “And thirdly, what does having 'no qualms' entail exactly?” she asked, finally laying her head back down on her pillow to join the brunette. As soon as Quinn laid down, she noticed Rachel's hesitance as she shuffled closer so she brought the small diva into her arms, coaxing her head to rest on her chest. Quinn nuzzled her nose into silky chestnut locks, closing her eyes at the wonderful scent that invaded her senses.

Rachel snuggled further into the blonde's body, loving how perfectly they fit together. Trailing her finger over the v-neck of Quinn's shirt, she murmured thoughtfully before answering, “For now? Just pretty much what we're doing now? Holding hands in the school hallway, definitely more hugging in between classes and maybe waiting for me at the end of my classes when it is possible?”

Quinn's eyebrow arched at that last shy request and a cocky grin began to play across her lips. “You like it when I do that, huh?” she asked, though truly, she liked doing it too. Just the very feeling of seeing Rachel's beautifully beaming face in her direction, it was  _ indescribable _ . Almost magical. The first time she did it was just on a whim because she missed Rachel. The second time was because she found that she rather liked the surprised look of awe on the brunette's face when she realized that Quinn was there waiting for her that first time. By the third time she did it, it became a habit that Quinn was more than happy to keep, just because it resulted in such a resplendent smile from the diva.

Rachel nodded, smiling bashfully. The blonde seemed so much more relaxed, so much more at ease and she couldn't help but think that it had something to do with these recent developments. She liked it. “I do appreciate you being so patient with me, Quinn,” she murmured, looking up into bright hazel eyes. She had heard far too many complaints about girls being pressured by their impatient partners and she knew that as a teenager, slow wasn't a very well-liked path to take. Quinn might have her moments like last night, just as she would have her moments too, but she knew that the blonde would respect her wishes to wait.

Though it wasn't to say that Quinn wouldn't try her luck as she smiled cheekily, “Appreciative enough to kiss me?” she asked, her eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

The petite diva chuckled at the blonde's flirtatious tone. “Nice try, but no,” she refused, a teasing smile on her lips as she shook her head when Quinn pursed her lips in protest. “Don’t pout at me, Quinn Fabray, I am  _ impervious _ to your feminine wiles,” she announced haughtily.

“Oh, is that what you call almost kissing me the other night?  _ Impervious _ ?” the blonde teased, raising her eyebrow at Rachel's adorable manner.

“ _ That _ was just a... momentary lapse,” she explained, faltering in composure at the wicked twinkle in Quinn's hazel eyes that stirred an excited feeling in her chest. The feeling increased when Quinn suddenly pushed her to lay back on the bed as the blonde hovered over her, her arms keeping her up. Rachel felt the swell of Quinn's stomach pushing against hers and the brunette let out a shaky sigh at the intimate contact.

Taking advantage of Rachel's brief moment of shocked silence, Quinn nuzzled her nose into the brunette's neck, inhaling the rich scent as she made her way up. She rested her cheek next to Rachel's, appreciating the warmth of the brunette's blush as her breath sighed delicately over tanned skin. Then Quinn turned slightly to press her lips on the diva's cheek, trailing them slowly down a very delectable neck, peppering it with soft, barely-there kisses.

“Quinn...” the brunette moaned. The blonde hummed in reply. “What are you doing?” she gasped when she felt a perfect set of teeth began to lightly nip at her collar-bone. She brought her hands up to rest on the blonde's shoulders, intending to make her stop but finding herself weak and unable to do so. She whimpered in disapproval when Quinn actually did stop to look at her. Their eyes locked together and Rachel had never seen Quinn's eyes looking so green.

“Do you want me to stop?” she asked, feeling a flare of triumph at the sight of Rachel's heaving chest as the brunette breathed heavily. 

Impervious... Yeah, right.

Rachel licked her suddenly dry lips, still trying to catch her breath. “I- I’m not sure. But I do know that this is definitely  _ not _ going slo- Wait, where are you going?” she asked, sitting up when Quinn very suddenly pushed off the bed with a surprisingly agile grace and was walking across the room.

Quinn turned to look at the alarmed brunette and she gave her a wicked smile. “You know what? You’re right. I  _ promised _ that we’re going to take it slow so; I’m going to go get showered and dressed for the day. When I come back out, we can talk about what we’re going to have for brunch because I am  _ starving _ ,” she imparted with a smouldering look that very obviously said just what she was hungry for, and it most definitely was  _ not _ food. 

And Rachel was left gaping, dumbfounded, at the departing figure walking out of the room, her cheeks still a crimson red and her chest heaving with short, fast breaths from the feel of delectable lips blazing a trail of fire on the sensitive skin of her neck. She let out a deep, shuddering gust of air before flopping back down on the bed, bringing her arm up to cover her eyes. “I think she’s trying to kill me,” she whined to herself, cursing the very day that Quinn discovered the motto of it being all about the teasing.

\---

First thing Monday morning found the two girls walking through the school hallway together, side by side and both their faces were plastered with shy smiles as they exchanged the occasional glance. It felt different somehow, as they walked past people on the way to Rachel's locker; that they were sharing this secret and nobody else knew. They felt like they had gone through a world of changes but they realized that nobody else was really privy to any of that. And that actually made the whole situation so much sweeter. It was theirs and theirs alone to share with each other. For the time being anyway.

The first warning bell rang as Rachel shut her locker door before turning to face the blonde who was leaning on the locker next to hers. Quinn was happily and quietly watching the brunette, and she groaned out loud in displeasure at the shrill sound echoing in the hallway. “Would you think it pathetically clingy of me if I said that I wish that we're sharing a class right now instead of later?” she whined, punctuating it with a sad pout on her lips.

Rachel chewed down on her lip, feeling herself melt at the adorable sight of the beautifully petulant blonde. She shook her head as she fell back to rest on her own locker, looking up at Quinn. “No. I'm finding myself suddenly feeling more anxious than usual about not being able to see you as well.”

The blonde's eyebrow cocked up, amused at Rachel's formal choice of phrasing. “Rach, can't you just say that you'll miss me too?” she asked teasingly.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the blonde, sighing enduringly, “I’ll miss you too, Quinn,” she repeated obediently and in such a deadpan manner that Santana would have been proud of, as her dark eyes narrowed into a withering glare. She grumbled incoherently when she got only a chuckle from Quinn and a smug grin. With another spectacular roll of her eyes, “Why do I even like you again?” she asked, her tone filled with exasperation though her eyes were filled with mirth. 

The one thing that Rachel had always loved about their friendship was their easy banter, the way they would tease each other without being afraid of hurting feelings. And she worried that now they had revealed their feelings to each other, they would be so focused on  _ that _ side of their relationship, their friendship would be forgotten. It didn’t look to be the case and she was really glad for that. In fact, the flirtatious tone seemed to make it even better.

The blonde's face took on an exaggerated look of contemplation, humming quietly. “My magnetic personality? My charm and my wit? Face it Rach, you can't get rid of me now,” she offered with mock-sympathy in her tone, shaking her head.

Rachel sighed mournfully. “I suppose there are worse things,” the diva lamented with a beguiling smile, mentally patting herself on the back when it made Quinn blush.

The girls looked up when the final warning bells rang and both exchanged bittersweet smiles. Quinn was the first to move her gaze back to the brunette, “See you at lunch?” she asked.

Rachel nodded. “Of course.”

“Music room?”

“Of course.”

“Kiss goodbye?”

“Of cou-” Rachel immediately stopped herself to give the roguish blonde an admonishing glare that just as quickly turned into a rueful grin. “I'm going to have watch myself with you, aren't I?”

The blonde shrugged unapologetically. “Too late to change your mind now, Berry,” she reminded her as she pushed off the metal door and gave Rachel a small peck on the cheek. She smiled softly at the flushed diva. “I'll see you later, Rach,” she murmured quietly before walking off to her homeroom.

With a goofy smile on her face, she watched Quinn walk away. Not a moment had passed and Rachel noticed then that she wasn’t alone anymore when she felt the familiar presence of Brittany and Santana behind her. She smiled when she heard the other brunette let out an exaggerated dreamy sigh, “Ah, puppy love,” and Rachel turned to see a too-saccharine smile on Santana's face that quickly dropped into a tight line. “So gross,” Santana dryly added, her nose scrunching in disgust.

Rolling her eyes at the Head Cheerio, Rachel cordially greeted her, “Good morning Santana.” She then turned to the genial blonde, giving her a short wave and a bright smile, “Hey Britt, how was your weeken-” her question was interrupted when Brittany literally swept her up into a warm hug and Rachel immediately returned the affection because she would never stop loving these Brittany-hugs, so full of warmth and joy. She let out a giggle when Brittany actually lifted her up to spin her around a few times and Rachel just held on tighter.

“We had an  _ awesome _ weekend,” Brittany finally answersmed when she put Rachel back down. “How was yours, Rach?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary happened,” the smaller brunette hastily replied, laughing nervously and still trying to brush back her hair that flew around when Brittany had spun her. Her eyes darted around nervously, noticeably avoiding the curious pair of brown and blue eyes in front of her. “ _ Nothing _ whatsoever.”

Santana wasn’t fooled though and she resisted the urge to scoff out loud at Rachel's answer. She and Brittany were standing by their lockers when they saw Rachel and Quinn walking into the school. Judging by the goofy smiles on both their faces, Santana knew that something  _ totally _ happened between them over the weekend. Not to mention that little kiss that the pregnant blonde planted on Rachel's cheek? Like  _ that _ wasn't a total give-away already. But Rachel seemed adamant to keep it a secret and Santana would allow it for now. She gave the smaller brunette a mysterious grin that had her narrowing her brown eyes in suspicion. “You don't play poker, do you Berry?” she asked, her smirk increasing with every second as the furrow of Rachel's eyebrows deepened in confusion.

“No, I've never played it before. Why?”

Santana shrugged. “Just saying, poker? Definitely  _ not _ your game,” she sagely advised. “Anyway, I'll see you guys later. I've got a meeting with Coach about something.” She pursed her lips to receive her girlfriend's all-too brief kiss on the lips before giving Rachel a curt nod and another annoying smirk. When the smaller girl's glare intensified, Santana cackled because seriously, Rachel was just  _ too _ easy to tease sometimes.

Rachel watched as Santana just strutterwd away from then, the mass of students parting like the Red Sea for the Head Cheerio. She was still trying to figure out what Santana meant so she referred to the tall blonde who was rapturously watching her girlfriend's derriere. The diva blushed at Brittany's lack of propriety. “Brittany, what was your girlfriend talking about?” she asked, trying to mindfully ignore the lustful glaze in the blonde's baby-blue eyes.

Brittany shook her head, forcing herself out of the daydream of her, Santana and an empty classroom, and looked to the small diva waiting for an answer. She gave Rachel her own mysterious smile and instead opted to swing her arm over Rachel's shoulder as she offered, “Tell you what, Rach, we'll teach you the game and you can see for yourself okay?”

The brunette frowned, pouting that she wasn't getting any forthcoming answers and she sighed. “I don't understand why you can't just tell me right now but fine,” she muttered under her breath.

The cheerleader laughed at the diva's annoyance and with her arm still around Rachel, she led them to start walking. “Come on grouchy, let's get to homeroom before the second final bell.”

\---

Glee was being spent in the auditorium. With three weeks left to Regionals, Glee club would be bringing their practice sessions to the April Rhodes Civic Pavilion. Since Sectionals, they had been working with three different set-lists and they would be deciding which one they would use two weeks before the competition. It wasn’t a plan that Rachel was particularly fond of taking, considering that Vocal Adrenaline had been hard at work, probably even before winning their own Sectionals trophy.

She had said as much to Mr. Schuester and though it  _ was _ his first time as a Glee director, there was no excuse for slacking. But, she supposed it  _ could _ be worse. They could be deciding the set-list  _ one _ week before the competition and Rachel shuddered frightfully at the thought. So, while not the  _ best _ plan, Rachel decided to just follow Mr. Schuester's lead.

At the moment however, they just got done with rehearsing and were relaxing in the seats, joking around in between watching their fellow members perform their assignment on stage. Quinn was standing in the wings, waiting for Kurt to finish his song and it was her turn next. She watched nervously as the effeminate boy breezed easily through his performance. 

Stage jitters pooled in the pit of her stomach but it was nothing that she hadn’t felt before, since she had to perform in front of crowds during school games and cheerleading competitions where they were expected to be perfect and win. This wasn’t any different, except this time, Quinn wasn’t aiming to win a trophy but Rachel's heart. Though that  _ had _ been the original plan if the girls hadn't actually revealed themselves this past weekend, so this performance had been given a new purpose and that was to show Rachel that she wasn’t making a mistake by giving Quinn -  _ them  _ \- a chance and not even a stupid case of stage fright was going to scare her from doing so.

She should be down there with her friends, watching Kurt singing an amazing cover  _ Rose's Turn _ (did she just hear him sing her name?). But Rachel just couldn't resist going to Quinn who she knew was waiting backstage. When she reached there, she quietly observed the pregnant blonde peeking through the velvet curtains. The apprehension was clear on the girl's face but Rachel could also see the steely determination in her hazel eyes. 

Feeling a little bold, Rachel glided to just behind the oblivious blonde before placing one hand on her hip and another on her shoulder, making her jump slightly in surprise. She quickly greeted her with a soft, “Hey,” letting Quinn know that it was her as she nuzzled her nose onto the blonde's shoulder, still keeping a tender grip on the taller girl's hip. She felt Quinn's body relax, moving to lean back into her so Rachel stepped forward to mould their bodies together, content sighs leaving their lips at the contact.

A gentle smile worked its way onto her lips as Quinn enjoyed the warm embrace. “Hi,” she replied, just as softly. When Rachel asked her if she was ready, Quinn slowly spun around to face her, forcing Rachel to regretfully retract her hands. Quinn compensated by picking up Rachel's hand, lacing their fingers together. “I'm ready,” Quinn finally answered, then her smile transformed into a cheeky smirk, “Are  _ you _ ready for me to sing your atrocious argyle knee-high socks off?”

Rachel scoffed at the blonde's arrogance though her laughing eyes betrayed her. She couldn’t really deny that she didn’t find Quinn's confidence kind of charming. “I'd like to see you try,” she challenged.

Too caught up in their innocent flirting, the two girls didn’t realize that Kurt had actually finished with his number and that everybody was waiting for Quinn to walk on until they jumped with a start, hearing Santana bark out, “While we're still young and that kid is still  _ inside _ you, Q!” making the girls laugh at the brunette’s demand.

“You'd better get out there. It sounds like Santana's getting impatient,” Rachel warned finally, just as the brunette Cheerio threatened Quinn to get out there already or Santana would come up and drag her out.  

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Santana's default  _ setting _ is 'Impatient',” she quipped, grinning proudly when Rachel responded with a lighthearted chuckle. “Kiss good luck?” she flirted daringly. Even though she knew that Rachel wouldn’t actually kiss her, it still sent a spark of thrill up her spine for being like this with the brunette right while everybody else was waiting for her and having no clue whatsoever what was going on between them. Not yet anyway. 

Her heart-rate picked up an uncontrollable speed and hazel eyes closed automatically when soft lips pressed tenderly against her cheek, remaining there for more than a moment before a tanned cheek replaced them to gingerly nuzzle her face. Her breath hitched at the warm gust of a sigh blowing over her ear and down her neck. She swallowed thickly when Rachel finally whispered, “Break a leg, beautiful.”

When Rachel pulled back to coquettishly look up at her through long, thick eyelashes and a teasing smirk across her lips, the blonde glared down at the smaller girl as her racing heart began to slow down but not by much. “You're going to be the death of me, Berry,” she grumbled playfully, pouting slightly.

Rachel gave her a blinding smile then proceeded to pat the blonde's blushing cheek. “Yes well, the feeling is very mutual there, sweetheart.” She then took a step back after brushing back golden locks and resting her hand back on Quinn's face, staring deep into those hazel eyes that she had come to love. “Go knock ‘em dead,” she told the blonde who responded with a nod. They both took their leave, with Rachel going down and off the stage whereas Quinn stayed behind, waiting for Puck as he checked that his guitar was tuned.

Mr. Schuester shushed the talking students, alerting them that Quinn was finally there. He gave the girl a reassuring smile. “Hey Quinn, have you got everything?” he asked, waiting as she stepped up to centre stage. He watched as she referred to Puck who in turn gave them a thumbs-up, telling them that all was good. The Glee club director then nodded happily. “Alright then, Quinn, whenever you're ready.”

Hazel eyes followed a certain petite brunette who was still making her way to sit with their friends. Rachel graced Quinn with her own smile of reassurance after she sat down next to an excited Brittany. The pregnant blonde let out a deep breath and turned to Puck, letting him know with a firm nod that he could start playing. Bringing her gaze back to Rachel and her liquid brown eyes, Quinn found the comfort and strength she needed as she held the microphone in a gentle grip.

Rachel didn't recognize the tune that Noah was playing expertly and beautifully on his beloved guitar and from the quizzical looks on the other members, whatever song that Quinn was singing didn't seem to be a well-known song. The lack of worry on the girl's face told Rachel though, that Quinn wasn't really surprised by it. And when Quinn opened her mouth to sing of freedom coming in the morning time, Rachel fought the instinctive reaction to close her eyes, wanting to keep constant eye-contact with the blonde.

_ And even in the dark, I’m not alone _ __  
_ You guide me by the hand, you won't let go  _ _  
_ __ And I know you'll carry me when I can't walk

When she saw Rachel nod, Quinn knew that it was in agreement and a promise that she always would. Rachel had always been there for Quinn even before she even really knew it, since the first time the blonde sat backstage with the intention of escaping everyone, only to find the best escape in the form of a very talented diva who had unexpectedly become the one person she couldn't live without. She would never forget the way Rachel's voice pierced right through her, catching the very breath from her lungs.

And since the day the brunette discovered that it had been her watching in secret, Quinn had never known what alone even meant. Rachel had always been there for her, with her ever-present patience and strength, supporting Quinn every step of the way, with Puck, Finn, and the baby. Everything. She hoped that with this song, Rachel would realize that Quinn was trying to make her own promise that she would be there for Rachel too.

As she sang, the blonde knew that she should move her eyes away from piercing brown eyes, to pay attention to the others in the room but she just couldn't move her feet. She wanted to stay in this spot, opening her heart and her soul to the one person that deserved it all. She didn't care if their friends were looking at her, puzzled as to why she was stuck like this, singing a love song to somebody they really only just started to accept as her friend, her  _ best _ friend. She didn't even care if they liked the song or not. She only had an audience of one;  _ she _ was the one that Quinn was singing to and nobody else.

_ Now I'm waiting here for you, and don't be far away tonight _

The diva could feel the heat of a fiery blush making its way up her neck to settle in her cheeks as Quinn's soulful voice washed over and hazel eyes remain locked on hers, seemingly intent on dismantling her with every word that left her lips. Her chest tightened and Rachel realized that she was trying to fight back tears when her sight turned blurry. Brittany's hand covered hers and Rachel gladly took it, soaking in the comfort that her friend was offering.

Rachel might be able to keep in her tears but Brittany wasn't able to do that. Her blue eyes were now the azure blue that they always turned to when she cried. There had been so much beauty in watching them fall so helplessly in love with each other and it had taken them so  _ painfully _ long to get here that Brittany couldn't help but let it all out. She squeezed the small hand in hers, a surge of happiness in her heart for her friends.

_ And you can shake the mountains with a whisper  _ __  
_ and you, you speak and I fall at your feet again  _ __  
_ and you are so beautiful  _ _  
_ __ and I am so in love with you

It was the second time she heard it but Rachel’s breath still hitched as if it still caught her by surprise, as if she was hearing it for the first time.  _ I am so in love with you. _ Quinn was singing that to her, with all their friends watching her every move and knowing that they would catch it but the blonde's hazel eyes remained solely on her, intense and focused only on Rachel. And with the final pluck of Puck’s guitar strings, the sound carried in the auditorium along with the applause of the other Glee club members but as their eyes stayed on each other, Rachel only heard her heart calling out to the blonde standing on the stage in front of her.

\---

“Why are you still here?”

The voice hissing that question belonged to Santana, who had been sitting next to Brittany this whole time. Rachel sat up with a jerk, inwardly realizing that she had been in a stupor since Quinn walked off to backstage. She turned to give the other brunette a blank look. “What?” she asked dumbly, confused as she is still trying to come back down to earth.

Santana rolled her eyes. “Are you  _ high _ ? The girl just basically said what we’ve known all along. And if it wasn’t  _ already _ clear enough, she did it in song. Isn't that like, your language or something?” she asked only to get a confused frown from the diva. “Ugh, do I have to do  _ everything _ around here?” and with another roll of her eyes, she snapped, “Berry, get off your midget ass and  _ go to her _ .”

The Head Cheerio's demand pushed Rachel to stand up from her seat, anxiously brushing her fingers through her hair as she made her way to the stage door. “Right. I should go there. I  _ am _ going there. I’m going there  _ now _ ,” she muttered, mumbling even more incoherent words under her breath. 

And as Rachel walked through the doorway, she faintly heard Santana saying, “I mean seriously, how you people would even  _ survive _ without me, I really don’t know.”

\---

It had been a few minutes since Quinn had gone to the back, wanting to take a moment to come down from the high of performing. She knew that she did well. Never mind the applause or the praise from Mr. Schuester or her friends. She didn't care about that. Any of it. She only cared about the quiet brunette who was so obviously trying her hardest to keep in the tears that were yearning to fall. She turned around when she heard the soft patter of footsteps coming closer and it was her. It was Rachel with a heartbreaking smile on her lips, looking at her with soft brown eyes that moved her to stand just in front of her.

“He-” and her words died out and it took Quinn a hot second, maybe even two, to catch on to the fact that Rachel’s lips were actually on hers, soft and barely moving with a gentle, almost cautious press. She didn't let Rachel wait for too long when Quinn finally yielded, her hazel eyes fluttering close and her body relaxed, her own lips parting with a tiny sigh as she pushed back, returning the kiss with fervour, a hungry,  _ insatiable _ need.

The blonde girl canted her head, searching for a better angle, at the same time opening her mouth to taste more of Rachel, to deepen the kiss. There was a small hand at the back of her head, keeping her in place with tanned fingers buried in her hair while Rachel’s other hand was on her hip, gripping it with such desperation that Quinn could m almost feel the girl's short fingernails through the fabric of her dress. When that hand started moving up to cradle her face and Rachel’s thumb stroked her cheek, Quinn’s idle hands finally decided to join in by wrapping around the brunette’s waist, bringing them up her back as she pulled Rachel closer. 

The pregnant blonde gave many thanks to the powers-that-be that her baby bump wasn’t so huge that it kept her from feeling Rachel’s body pressing ever so deliciously against her. And yet Rachel still didn’t feel close enough. Clichés of bells ringing, fireworks exploding and knees buckling held merit as her heart tried to catch up, thundering wildly against her ribcage. She could smell Rachel all around her, making her head so very dizzy with want and pleasure that Quinn wasn't even sure where she was anymore.

The softness of Rachel's lips, the gentleness of her touch, Quinn never thought that this was what her first kiss with Rachel would feel like, making her forget every other kiss that she had ever been given. It was like a fire blazing inside her and Quinn was emerging reborn,  _ cleansed _ , as if all her sins were now forgiven, as if her slate had been wiped off of all that burdened her. Like  _ this _ was her new beginning.

With Quinn’s alluring scent tickling her nose and the blonde’s hands moving up and down her back, Rachel struggled to remember her reasons as to why she wanted to go slow in the first place. After all, going slow didn't have to mean that she shouldn’t get to do this; this divine meeting of lips and tongues. Her brain was fuzzy at best, trying to document the sensations that Quinn was erupting in her body. 

She could just barely register the sounds of Mr. Schuester calling them to return and Santana complaining about wanting to leave but Rachel couldn't bring herself to care about any of it. Quinn just sang her one of the most breathtaking songs she had ever heard, and the only sounds she wanted to hear were those breathless moans that Quinn was making, the wet slide of their tongues moving over each other and the frantic beats of their hearts harmonizing together.

_ Always _ together.

The sheer force of emotion that raged inside, cleared Quinn’s mind completely of rational thought. And the sounds, such  _ amazing _ sounds that she knew she would never tire of hearing, they pulsed with a reckless abandon that swept right through her. It moved her to completely disregard the fact that they might have been gone for too long, that there was a big chance somebody would come and try to find them, forcing them to stop. Her heart ached because god, just the mere thought of not kissing Rachel, of not touching her like this for even just a second, it was  _ unbearable _ .

Rachel felt the urgency in soft lips that were locked with hers and she instinctively understood why. Her lungs were constricting painfully, begging insistently for air but Rachel couldn't find it in her to stop, to pull away. Her heart swelled to what should have already been the breaking point and yet it continued to beat fast and hard against the inside of her chest. Was this what it meant to fall? To lose every practical, every  _ rational _ sense there was and knowing nothing else but these roller-coaster of emotions that were taking over her entire being?

When she finally did pull away, she stepped back but only slightly so that she stayed within the circle of Quinn’s arms and she slowly blinked her brown eyes open to be faced with a vision of beauty. Quinn’s eyes were still closed, her cheeks were rosy pink and her lips – her exquisite kiss-swollen lips – were pouting in such a tempting way that Rachel couldn't help but press her lips against them for one last brief moment. 

Hazel eyes opened in a whisper and Rachel found herself dazzled, caught off-guard by the brilliant spark in deep pools of yellow, brown and green. When Quinn’s arms tightened around her back, calming her with the prolonged embrace, Rachel realized that her body was actually  _ trembling _ . She realized then that the both of them were still trying to catch their breath as she felt Quinn’s hot breath sweeping across her face. 

She licked her lips, swallowing thickly when she noticed hazel eyes watching her tongue in rapt fascination. She opened her mouth to say something, and only a soft demanding “ _ Again _ ,” came out. The deep rumbling in her chest made her voice come out low and husky, a register that she had never heard or felt in her voice before but judging by the rapid dilation of Quinn's pupils and the groan that left her lips, she seemed to like it,  _ a lot _ .  

When their lips reconnected, so effortlessly drawn to one another, wanting -  _ needing _ \- more, they quickly lost themselves back into their world and only one word swirled around in their minds: 

_ Finally _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Quinn sang was You Can Shake the Mountains by Lifehouse. It's one of their old and rare tracks, and I'm pretty sure they went by another name then but I can't really remember now. 
> 
> It's a really beautiful song. Give it a listen here: https://youtu.be/huowVpbKtS0


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is somewhat a filler chapter. I'm not feeling too great today, so this might be all you get, you guys. I will try to get another chapter before the weekend ends but I can't promise anything now so I just want to apologize in advance for that.
> 
> I hope you'll have a good weekend.

They had been exchanging soft, languid kisses when Rachel pulled away, breaking out into shy giggles at Quinn's disappointed pout. She realized then that their friends  _ must _ know just what she and Quinn had been up to since she went backstage to find the blonde. The lack of sound coming from the auditorium let them know that everybody had already left after they had completely disregarded every call of their names. But Rachel found herself not really caring about what their friends might think as she nuzzled her nose cozily into the blonde’s neck. Quinn reacted by tipping her head slightly, giving herself completely to the girl in her arms.

“Hi,” she sighed blissfully as she peered up at the blonde through her eyelashes, so very certain that her eyes were sparkling with the contentment she felt blooming in her chest.

A pleasant buzz coursed through and her body shivered at the barely-there breeze of Rachel's sigh caressing her skin. Her hands were still moving up and down the smaller girl's back, more for her own benefit as it allowed her to feel Rachel, telling her that these past few minutes hadn't been a dream. She could feel Rachel trying to snuggle further into her and she responded by firming her hands on the middle of the diva's back, splaying her fingers on the sweater covering tanned skin that she yearned wildly to touch. 

She glanced down, taking in the very alluring sight of Rachel's swollen lips and feeling herself drowning in the bottomless pools of her dark brown eyes. “Hi,” she replied in a breathless whisper, as if saying it any louder would break the spell that they were under. “So, was that your idea of going slow?” she questioned with a teasing smirk and an arched eyebrow.

Rachel laughed airily, hiding her face in Quinn's neck while crimson heat spread across her face to the tips of her ears as she lightly smacked the blonde's shoulder in retaliation. She pulled her head back to smartly retort, “I’m not exactly the one with my hands heading to inappropriate places.” She gestured to the hands that were previously on her back and were now moving further downwards. Rachel then shuddered at the warmth of Quinn's hands permeating through the material of her sweater as they quickly returned to settle on her back, inwardly wishing that she could feel them against her burning skin instead.

The blonde feigned innocence that lasted barely a second before her smirk returned, smug and unapologetic, letting her know that the direction of her hands were _completely_ intentional and Rachel could only roll her eyes at the charming display, indulging Quinn even further. Rachel placed her head back into the crook of the blonde's neck; wrapping one arm around her waist while her other hand moved to rest on Quinn's chest. “So I think we can safely assume that after your beyond stellar performance and the fact that nobody has tried to come find us, everybody in Glee knows about us,” she remarked quietly as she lightly traced the blonde's collarbone, smiling to herself at the strong beat of Quinn's heart that she could hear very clearly against her ear.

Quinn sighed wistfully at Rachel's delicate touch and she pulled the smaller girl with her as she leaned back, resting against the backstage wall. “Most likely, yeah,” she agreed absently while wondering just how long she and Rachel had been here. Not that she was complaining, obviously. She'd very happily lock herself in school if it meant she got to be right here with Rachel, locked in a passionate embrace. Her lips were still tingling from Rachel’s kisses and she felt the hooks of withdrawal clawing at her, craving to feel Rachel's mouth and tongue on hers again. To her disappointment, Rachel’s fingers halted in their movement and Quinn just knew that the diva was wondering whether she meanr it the way she did, that she didn’t care who knows about them.

“And you’re, really okay about this?” she hesitantly asked. It wasn’t a question of Rachel doubting her but more that Rachel wanted to make sure that Quinn was truly ready to deal with being out. Their friends in Glee would obviously be accepting, maybe a little weirded out at first because it _was_ still them, _Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray_ , but in the end, Rachel had faith that the club, along with Mr. Schuester, would support them. It was just the rest of the school that Rachel couldn’t help but worry about, more worry for Quinn rather than herself.

The blonde licked her lips, her eyelashes fluttering at the lingering taste of Rachel greeting her tongue, and it distracted her for a brief moment as she thought of what to say next. ”We don’t need to make a public statement but we _ can  _ officially tell everybody in Glee club at the next meeting,” she suggested, her heart racing at the thought of actually being able to say that they were together, at being able to say that the girl in her arms was hers and nobody else's. The brunette’s head tilted upwards and hers angled down, meeting with questioning brown eyes. Quinn figured then that Rachel was asking her to elaborate just a little bit more, so with a tender smile, she did, “It means that we’re  _ not  _ going to hide.”

It wasn’t very difficult for Rachel to miss the fire that  _ blazed _ in the blonde’s hazel eyes and she felt something akin to pride churning inside her as Quinn continued, “I want to be able to kiss you in the hallway, Rachel, at your locker or at mine. I want to be able to hold your hand, walk you to class, whatever. I just want to be with you. Screw everybody else. Sure, I’m a little scared about what they'll say and do,  _ especially _ to you, but if they’re not our friends, it’s none of their business what we are to each other.”

_ Definitely _ pride.

“As long as I have you by my side, what we do and what we are is between us and only us. You’re all I need.”

And most definitely, love.

\---

Rachel woke up with a panicked gasp, sitting up almost immediately in her bed. Her hand clenched tightly into a fist over her chest as her heart pounded painfully against it. Her chocolate brown eyes were wide and unblinking as they darted around the darkness of her bedroom. She breathed in and out, deep, shaky and ragged as she recounted the dream that she just woke up from. 

There was that sinking feeling in her stomach again and Rachel shut her eyes, holding back the tears as she whimpered weakly when her mind began to replay the very clear image of Quinn walking away –  _ leaving  _ her – with Noah's hand in hers, fingers loosely intertwined, and  _ their _ baby cradled in her arm. It wasn’t the first time that Rachel had this dream but it always,  _ always _ , felt like it was and it pained her to the point that it  _ debilitated _ her ability to form a coherent thought, let alone breathe. And despite her repetitive mantra that it wasn’t real, that it was just a dream, Rachel hastily pushed off her covers, scurrying out of her room and making her way to Quinn’s. She just needed to see the blonde right now. Quinn would make her feel better.

It had been almost three weeks since that day and Rachel didn’t know how it could ever be possible to experience so much happiness in such a short time, but somehow Quinn managed to give her that. And it wasn’t that any aspect of their relationship truly changed. It was just much more...  _ magnified _ , in the sense that, the touches that Quinn initiated now lingered for much more than just a brief moment. The smiles the blonde gave her were softer, seemingly more intimate and only for her. And the heated looks that Quinn shot at her were now so plain to see, so  _ there _ , that it made her wonder if that was also how  _ she _ looked at Quinn, if Quinn felt the same way she did, like the world just faded away until there was only them and the music of their hearts beating together.

The blonde had kept to her word because two days after their first kiss, they told the Glee club before Mr. Schuester entered the room. Everybody was - predictably - shocked by the change in their relationship, apart from the people who already knew. They seemed wary that the girls were playing a prank on them but Rachel and Quinn didn’t care. They did what they came to do and just shrugged. The blonde then allowed herself to be pulled by the brunette to sit next to Brittany who was giving them two thumbs up and Santana, who just gave them a nod of approval.

When she finally reached Quinn’s bedroom door, she noticed that it was hanging just slightly open and that the light was still switched on. She quietly crept up to the entrance and took a peek inside. A wave of irrational relief came over her, already feeling slightly better at seeing the blonde sitting up in her own bed, resting against the headboard with her hand absentmindedly stroking her baby bump. 

From the movement of her lips and the book in her hands, Rachel could see that Quinn was quietly reading to the baby, looking positively angelic bathed under the glow of the soft yellow light coming from the bedside lamp. Rachel softly called out her name and Quinn’s head shot up, surprise evident in her hazel eyes.

“Rachel hey, what are you doing up?” she asked, curious as to why the brunette waa out of bed when she was sure that when she left Rachel's bedroom earlier, she had already been fast asleep. The other girl's eyebrows were furrowed into a small frown, her dark eyes filled with a sorrow that Quinn couldn’t bring to name, paining her to see it. She quickly set her book down then held out her hand, suggesting for Rachel to come inside and join her on the bed. 

Quinn watched her walk in the room with slumped shoulders and a desolate sigh, and she felt that aching twinge in her chest at seeing her girl so listless. The dullness in her normally rich brown eyes were very telling and Quinn had a nasty feeling that she knew  _ exactly _ why Rachel had woken up from what should have been a restful sleep. As soon as Rachel landed on the bed, sitting next to her, Quinn wrapped her arm around the smaller girl's waist. “Was it the dream again?” she asked softly, hoping that her suspicion was wrong but when Rachel nodded inertly with a tiny whimper, she brought her other arm around the diva, pulling her closer until she was able to rest her forehead against Rachel's.

The dreams didn’t occur very often but they happened enough times for Rachel to be affected by them, and sure, maybe she didn't really need to tell Quinn but the thing was, Rachel was a talker, and an honest one at that. She knew that if she kept the dreams to herself, they would fester inside her, feeding into her insecurities until she eventually lashed out, most likely at a very undeserving Quinn. 

It still scared her sometimes, just how much she  _ felt _ for Quinn, even though she knew very well that the blonde reciprocated her feelings. Before they got together, there were moments when it was like she was standing on the very edge of a cliff, looking down at the seemingly endless abyss and it left her feeling so unsteady and unbalanced because she didn't know how far the fall was and how much it would hurt when she eventually hit solid ground. But now that they were here, together, Rachel realized that for Quinn, she had willingly  _ flung _ her off that cliff, still scared to death but embracing the fall because she knew that Quinn would be there to catch her.

There were already  _ millions _ of people in the world who would die for the chance to feel what she was feeling, to hold this much love, passion and joy inside her that it practically consumed her whole being and to have somebody love her so completely that it overwhelmed her to the brink of tears. Rachel would be a fool to throw it all away.

Rachel closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Quinn's scent mixing in with the air that settled in her lungs, the warmth and feel of Quinn's body next to hers, the sounds as she inhaled and exhaled; they all gave Rachel an anchor, reminding her that  _ this _ was the reality. Finally, her whole body melted against the blonde's and she sunk down until her head rested on Quinn's chest, hearing the steady rhythm of her heartbeat telling Rachel that she was safe and Rachel sighed, burrowing deeper into the girl's loving embrace.

Quinn didn’t say a word and instead, brought her other arm around the other girl, hugging her. She knew that there weren’t any words she could give to the brunette that she hadn’t already said before. She didn’t like that Rachel had these dreams but it wasn’t like she had the power to get rid of them. Of course, if she did, she would do it in a nano-second because she hated that Rachel had these fears about her, but on the other hand, she had the very same fears about Rachel as well. 

It just wasn’t something either of them could fix because that was the price of opening your heart and finding someone you loved more than anything you have ever loved before. You rised. You gambled. You took a chance. Maybe it would be the smartest thing to stop before it got any further, before she found herself knee-deep into this but then what would be the point of it all? What other reason, what other  _ purpose _ , was there in this world, than to love somebody as much as she loved Rachel? It was all-consuming, terrifying and chaotic, and after having lived her life under her father's controlling thumb, Quinn willingly accepted it all.

The blonde scooted their bodies down until they were comfortably lying on the bed and her hands moved over the brunette's back in a soothing motion. She dipped her head down to tenderly press her lips on Rachel's forehead before peering down to meet the brunette's gaze. She could see the sorrow that was quickly fading in her eyes and Quinn decided to chase it all away, wanting to hear Rachel's magical laughter instead of this echoing silence in her bedroom. 

“Can I just say that if it were possible for me to ever meet dream-Quinn, I'd punch her in the face for being so stupid?” When Rachel just blinked slowly at her in surprise, Quinn thought that maybe her plan backfired until she heard that wonderful laughter filling the air and she relaxed, beaming when she saw a spark returning in Rachel's eyes.

Rachel shook her head, catching her bottom lip with her teeth as she fought the smile that threatened to take over her face. Just when she thought she couldn't find the blonde any cuter than she already did, Quinn proved her wrong. But in this case, Rachel found that she didn’t really mind being wrong. “Then I guess you should punch dream-Rachel too for being stupid enough to let dream-Quinn go too,” she replied with a rueful smile.

“I would  _ never _ punch dream-you,” the blonde swore adamantly, her face drawing into a small frown. She retracted an arm around the brunette, bringing her hand up to cup her cheek and Rachel shut her eyes close with a sigh, allowing Quinn the opportunity to appreciate the dark beauty. “In case you haven't gotten it by now, Miss Berry, I'm a little bit fond of your face,” she admitted bashfully. When brown eyes opened to meet hers, Quinn offered the girl an endearing lopsided smile.

Rachel shyly returned the smile, knowing that her face was now blushing red. “Sweet-talker,” she hummed, receiving only a sweet grin from the blonde. She took Quinn's hand off her cheek, kissing the palm before intertwining their fingers; placing them on the other girl’s swollen belly and then laying her head back down on Quinn’s chest.

She knew that she should be heading back to her room, resting the night away so that she would be ready for tomorrow when they would be facing off with Vocal Adrenaline and Aural Intensity at Regionals. But as her head rose and fell in time with the blonde slowly breathing in and out, the soothing sounds of the purring coming from the blonde's chest and the strong pulse of her heart all made Rachel completely unwilling to leave the blonde just yet. 

“Do you think we'll win tomorrow?” she asked quietly. “It’s just that, if it isn't for the fact that our chances are  _ already _ slim because we're going against one of the top teams,  _ Coach Sylvester _ is on the panel of judges. And she hasn't exactly been very shy about wanting to get rid of us,” she added hastily. Since they found out two weeks ago from Mr. Schuester, that Principal Figgins expected them to win, or Glee club would be disbanded, New Directions had been pushing themselves harder than ever with their rehearsals, especially in the past week. 

Before they knew it, Regionals was a day away and everybody was feeling the pressure to keep Glee club alive. She lifted her head from the blonde's shoulder to meet her hazel stare, her eyebrows knitted together into a worried frown. “What are we going to do if there is no more Glee next year, Quinn?” she asked, anxiously biting down on her lip at the thought of losing the one thing that had made high school even remotely bearable.

Quinn firmed her hand on the small of Rachel's back, pressing the smaller girl closer to her as she kissed the brunette's forehead, her heart hollowing at the desolate expression on Rachel's face. “We'll figure something out, Rach,” she promised her, mumbling against tanned skin. She felt bad that she couldn’t offer Rachel any reassurances but it wouldn't be right to promise that things would turn out fine when there was just as high a possibility for things to not turn out fine. She could only hope that Rachel would notice the 'we' part of her promise that told her that Quinn wasn’t going anywhere and that she would be there to help Rachel with whatever she wanted to do to keep Glee for next year.

She got her answer when soft lips pressed tenderly against her cheek in a gentle kiss and as she pulled back, there was a starry shine in Rachel's brown eyes that caused the butterflies to erupt in the pit of her stomach. Quinn leaned down, nuzzling her nose against Rachel's before capturing the brunette's lips with hers, bringing her hand up to weave in chestnut locks. A delicate sigh reached her ears and Quinn was unsure whether it belonged to her or Rachel but she found herself not caring so much when the kiss deepened as Rachel's tongue flicked out to swipe over her bottom lip and her mouth opened to allow her own tongue to slowly move with Rachel's. 

These were her favourite Rachel-kisses: relaxed, languorous and unhurried, as if they had all the time in the world with each other. There was no destination in mind as hands roamed freely over their bodies and ethereal moans escaped their lips. Quinn unwillingly pulled away when she felt the fire burning hotter inside, her hands itching and wanting to do more than just touch, and she smiled apologetically at the whine of protest coming from the brunette. 

“It's late,” she whispered, taking note of the tiredness on the singer's face, “and  _ you _ need to get your sleep for tomorrow.”

Quinn watched Rachel pout, hesitantly nodding and sighing before she got up to turn and sat on the edge of the bed, yawning and stretching her arms up as she got ready to stand. As she watched her, the blonde admitted to herself that really, she was kind of an idiot for making the brunette go back to her room when clearly, the  _ both _ of them wanted her to stay. 

So Quinn quickly wrapped her arms back around the brunette, surprising the girl when she pulled her back to the middle of the bed. “Stay,” she softly implored when questioning brown eyes met hers. She didn’t have to wait too long for Rachel to grace her with a heartbreaking smile and a happy nod. And as soon as they were comfortable under the covers and found themselves back in each other's arms, Quinn took in a deep breath, inhaling the brunette's familiar scent coming from the head resting on her shoulder, already feeling the power of slumber taking over her. “Sweet dreams, baby,” she murmured drowsily, before grabbing a small hand and placing their linked fingers on her stomach.

Rachel's heavy-lidded eyes sleepily peer up at the blonde in surprise at the term of endearment and her heart fluttered wildly at hearing it for the first time. Closing her eyes completely at the feel of lips kissing her forehead, she returned the gesture with a soft kiss to the pale neck underneath her lips. Feeling the blonde shiver slightly at her action, Rachel whispered, “Good night Quinn,” and she closed her eyes, knowing that this time, her dreams would be better. And even if they weren’t, she would wake up to Quinn, and that was better than any dream.

\---

Quinn groaned tiredly at the kinetic ball of energy heading its way towards her. New Directions were all on the bus, on their way to Regionals and the closer to their destination that they got, their female co-captain's excitement seemed to grow as well. It had come to the point that just a few minutes ago, she started pacing up and down the bus, and talking to everybody she passed by. At some random points, she even sang a few songs or skipped from person to person, much to everybody's amusement (or annoyance, as in the case of one Santana Lopez). 

Although Quinn found the brunette's display of enthusiasm ridiculously cute (she was also having trouble comprehending how it was possible that they both went to sleep at the same time and  _ she _ was the tired one), she was a little worried that Rachel would tire herself out and would end up crashing completely before they even got there.

And okay, so she wanted the girl to sit next to her so that they could cuddle (and sure, she wouldn't say no to making out for just a little bit) before they reached the venue. Nothing wrong with that, right?

She made to stand and touched the smaller girl's arm when Rachel neared, grabbing her attention. “Rach, shouldn't you be saving some of that energy for when we  _ actually _ get on stage?” she asked, lightly tugging back at the girl's arm when Rachel attempted to move.

She held back the yelp of surprise when the brunette grabbed the collars of her jean jacket with both hands to pull her body closer until it was flush with Rachel’s. Every nerve ending that Quinn possessed was now extremely hyper-aware of one Rachel Berry's sudden proximity to them. 

There was a deviant smirk playing across Rachel's full lips, that might or might not be a turn-on for Quinn to see, before she leaned up to whisper in her ear, “You'll find out eventually, Quinn Fabray, that I have  _ inexhaustible _ stamina,” and Quinn swore that she could detect a very wicked glint in Rachel's brown eyes. The blonde choked trying to come up with a reply, her throat inexplicably dry from Rachel's innuendo-laden words and the words 'eventually' and ‘inexhaustible’ echoed repeatedly inside her head.

Usually, she would call Rachel on it except the very unexpected contact of the singer's lithe body against her own surprised her, rendering her speechless and she mindfully blamed her incoherency on her hormone-addled brain because otherwise, she would be giving as good as she was getting. This was supposed to be her game. Flirting was _ supposed _ to be her game. But apparently, Quinn's brain had left the building and was now intent on playing through every single fantasy that she had in store, wondering of the many, many ways she could confirm to the inexhaustibility of Rachel's stamina.

Rachel's smirk deepened when Quinn's face began to take a flushed pink colour. Her fingers loosened their grip and she smoothed her hands down on the taller girl's jacket. “Quinn, are you alright? You're looking a little... rosy in the cheeks there,” she commented, feigning innocence to not knowing the reason why Quinn looked so flustered. She also managed to hide the awe in her tone, because even after three weeks, after innumerous wanton moans in her ears, after desperate touches imprinting her skin, it still caught Rachel by surprise just how she was able to cause such an effect on the usually unflappable blonde.

“What? Oh I'm just, feeling a little warm because, it's really, um, _hot_ , in here,” Quinn stuttered weakly. She then shook her head and cleared her throat, straightening her jacket at the same time. She realized her mistake when she moved her stare down, only to be greeted by the jaw-dropping sight of impossibly long tanned legs and her mind flashed with memories of having those legs entangling with hers, of toned thighs straddling her hips, of her hands moving over and worshipping every bit of smooth, _smooth_ , skin. 

Her darkening hazel eyes snapped back up to meet amused mahogany ones. It dawned on Quinn that she had been teased big time by the diminutive brunette in front of her and she glared mildly at the other girl. “Why you little-” she started to say when the bus came to a slow stop and Rachel's attention diverted. With the widest smile that Quinn had ever seen on her face, Rachel clapped, jumping excitedly and whatever words that Quinn had in mind to say faded away because really, who  _ wouldn't _ melt at the adorable sight of Rachel Berry with her eyes shining bright and her breathtaking smile unleashed for all the world to see?

“Oh Quinn, we're here! I'm going to go up front and help Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury. I'll see you inside, okay?” she said in a rush, not giving Quinn a chance to respond as she leaned up to quickly kiss the blonde's pale cheek and then speeding to the front of the bus to meet with their chaperones. And as she went, she was oblivious to the dark hazel-green eyes attentively following her every move.

“Wow Fabray. Diva’s got more game than you do.”

Her head whipped around to meet Santana's mocking brown eyes and Quinn groaned inwardly, knowing that the Head Cheerio had witnessed her floundering exchange with Rachel and was very likely going to have a field day with her. “Excuse me?” she asked, trying to maintain some sort of semblance of composure in front of her friend.

Santana rolled her eyes as she lifted the strap of her duffle bag over her shoulder. “She was totally playing you like a fiddle and you were being all  _ Finn _ about it. I'm just surprised you didn't squeak 'Mail-man' after Berry strutted out of here.”

“Well  _ I _ thought it was cute,” Brittany chimed in, grinning reassuringly at the shorter blonde, wanting to alleviate her embarrassment. Quinn smiled gratefully though her cheeks flooded with redness as she thought of how it just drove her crazy when Rachel pulled out tricks like that on her. She doubted that she would ever get used to it since Rachel seemed to have this habit of  _ constantly _ surprising her.

_ “Quinn.” _

_ “Yeah?” she sighed in reply. The pregnant blonde had been entirely focused on the petite figure of a certain diva, who at the moment was talking to Mr. Schuester about Regionals while her mind was replaying the kisses they shared since that afternoon. And there had been  _ a lot _ of kisses. She knew that there were very likely stars in her eyes as she kept them on Rachel and she knew she was in for a huge mocking session from Santana but god, she really didn’t care.  _

_ It just seemed like a moment was wasted if she didn’t look at her and if there was anything that Rachel taught her, it was never to waste her time. The fact that Brittany had just called her name finally clicked and she visibly shook her head, getting out of her Rachel-haze and turned her attention to the taller blonde. “What is it, Britt?” she asked, noticing the Cheerio looking more serious than she had ever seen her. _

_ “Don’t hurt Rachel, okay?” _

_ Her eyebrows lifted in surprise at the underlying tone of warning in the Cheerio’s voice. Quinn made a glance at her blue eyes and saw they were hard and filled with promise should Quinn do anything to cause any pain to her friend. The more she kept her eyes locked on Brittany’s, the more uncomfortable she became and Quinn swallowed thickly, finding herself just a little bit shocked. It wasn’t that she completely underestimated the friendship that Rachel had with the dancer, or just how deeply that Brittany seemed to care for her.  _

_ It wasn’t difficult to notice how protective the blonde had become since Rachel had that confrontation with Finn awhile ago. It was more that this was the first time (and hopefully the  _ only _ time) that Quinn was under Brittany’s subtly threatening stare and okay, maybe she was just a tiny bit afraid for herself. Apparently, her girlfriend was rubbing off on her since Brittany needn’t say more than those four words and Quinn just  _ knew _ how much trouble she would be in if she did something incredibly stupid and made Rachel cry.  _

_ Speaking of Santana,  _ she _ was actually the one that Quinn had been waiting to hear a threat from since she had been the one to threaten her in the beginning when she and Rachel were only starting out as friends. Quinn could only imagine what Santana had to say now that they were trying for a relationship. But instead the Head Cheerio was just leaning back in her chair, with her arm laying across the back of Brittany’s, playing with the bottom strands in the blonde’s ponytail while she watched with a very proud grin. She noticed Quinn’s stare however and the Latina just crossed her arms, gave her a smirk and shrugged. “What? I don’t have to threaten you. You  _ already _ know I’ll kick your ass if you make the midget cry,” she said matter-of-factly. _

_ Quinn sighed because she did know that already and truly? She felt the same way. She would very gladly kick her own ass if she made Rachel cry. “I will do my best to not hurt her, Britt. I promise,” she swore, levelling her gaze with Brittany’s to let her know that she meant every word. It was an inevitability that either she or Rachel would get hurt by each other because that was happened in relationships. And it was the most she could give Brittany; that she would  _ try _ not to do so.  _

_ She waited until the taller blonde nodded in acceptance and just as quickly her bright smile returned and Quinn felt herself relaxing, mentally noting herself to never get on Brittany’s bad side. And more than anything? Quinn was glad to know that these were her friends too and that in their own way, they were making sure that neither she nor Rachel would lose each other. _

The three friends finally made their way to the front of the bus, to join the rest of the club when Puck sidled beside the pregnant blonde, “Hey ladies. You all ready to get out there and rock their world?” he asked with a suggestive leer, snapping Quinn out of her thoughts. She remembered then that he was the very reason that Rachel even kndw how to construct sexual innuendos and she scowled at him as she pulled back a fist to swiftly punch him on the arm before storming off, paying no mind to his howl of pain from her unexpected hit and leaving him to wonder just what had he done wrong now.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Her hands were clasped behind her back as Rachel excitedly surveyed the filled room, taking care to look at each and every one that was present in the room. As her eyes slowly took in the bright lights and the crowd in the room, she faintly heard a voice softly calling out her name. “Rachel Berry?” they repeated a little louder. When she turned to face them, she came face-to-face with an older brunette woman with dark eyes, a defined jaw and an air of self-assurance. A faint heat of familiarity passed over her as the older woman's features sharpened further in her sight.

“Oh, you’re Shelby Corcoran, the glee coach for Vocal Adrenaline,” she exclaimed, her voice high-pitched with surprise. The woman's eyebrows lifted up in shock, obviously wondering how Rachel knew who she was and she explained, “I make it a point to know  _ everything _ about our competition.”

The glee club director nodded knowingly, as if she understood the reasoning behind Rachel's actions. “I just wanted to wish you good luck,” she told Rachel who nodded, graciously returning her smile.

“Thank you, Miss Corcoran. Although I assure you that we don’t need it. While Vocal Adrenaline may be superior in more ways than New Directions in terms of costume, volume and dance but from what I’ve seen of past performances, I can confidently say that we have more heart than you do.”

The older brunette smirked, unruffled by the teenager’s bluntness. “You’re cocky. I like that in a performer,” she replied before adding hastily, “I saw you at Sectionals, you know.” The young diva then felt a flutter of warmth at Miss Corcoran's confession, unsure as to where it was coming from and her face flushed in bewilderment as the older brunette continued, “It’s very refreshing to see a gifted talent such as yours. And it is a crying shame that Vocal Adrenaline didn’t discover you first.”

“It is,” Rachel replied easily and the older woman chuckled in response, shaking her head at the girl's candour. “But make no mistake, Miss Corcoran, I'm quite happy where I am.”

The glee club director nodded, raising her hands in assent. “Yes, of course. I don't mean to sound like I'm poaching, I apologize.” Rachel smilesmd, accepting the woman's apology and she turned to look back at the crowd, assuming that the conversation was over when she heard Miss Corcoran ask, “Are your parents going to be here?”

Rachel grinned at the mention of her parents and she nodded happily, “They are.” Before she and Quinn left the house this morning, she managed to extract a promise from both men, reassuring her that they would be there to watch them perform.

“Two dads, right?” came the abrupt question from the older woman and Rachel whipped around, her brown eyes wide with astonishment. While her two dads being gay wasn’t exactly news to the halls of William McKinley High, Rachel never thought that there would be others who would know about them too. Miss Corcoran only gave her a discerning smirk before leaning down with a conspiratorial twinkle in her dark eyes. 

“I make it a point to know everything about our competition too,” she said, echoing Rachel’s words back at her but with a teasing smile that let the younger girl know that she wasn’t being mocked. Rachel also saw that there was no judgement in the older woman's expression and she relaxed her stance, after having put up her walls just in case Shelby Corcoran was included in the group of people that weren’t accepting of people like her parents.

Shelby noticed though, Rachel's sigh of relief and her face bore a visage of sympathy, instinctively understanding the defensive posture that the younger brunette had taken on as soon as she mentioned knowing of her two gay parents. “Do the other kids give you trouble about that?” she asked carefully though she didn’t know why she was asking when she knew perfectly well that Lima wasn’t the most open-minded of places. Rachel proved her right when she only shrugged helplessly and there was a resigned smile on her lips. “I’m sorry, Rachel,” she apologized unnecessarily, frowning sadly at the girl.

The young diva frowned in confusion towards the woman's apology and shook her head. “Why? I don’t care for their petty ignorance,” she replied with an indifferent shrug. “I love my parents and they love me. And I have friends that love me, no matter  _ who _ my parents are. And that is the most important thing,” she added, nodding resolutely with a heartened smile on her face, unable to figure out why she had this need to reassure the other brunette.

“Looks like your dads raised you well,” Miss Corcoran commented with a proud smile that Rachel didn’t see coming and couldn’t decipher. Rachel felt her sixth sense tingling even more at the base of her neck but she valiantly pushed it away.

Rachel smiled shyly under the older woman's stare, “I’d like to think so,” she replied. She opened her mouth, about to say something more when her phone alarm let out a loud sound, alerting her that it was almost time for her to get ready. She grinned apologetically at the questioning dark eyes, showing her phone to the older woman. “I have to go meet my friends and prepare for our performance.”

Miss Corcoran nodded understandingly, waving off Rachel's apology. “It's okay. It was a pleasure meeting you, Rachel,” she said with a smile that was soft and filled with, though Rachel hesitated to call it so, maternal pride. She only thought it because she had seen it on Quinn's face many times before when the blonde talked about or to her baby bump. Rachel mentally shook her head, warding off the absurd thoughts from her mind and pasted on a bright smile for the older woman.

"It was nice meeting you too, Miss Corcoran," she replied before spinning around to walk towards New Directions' designated dressing room. As she reached her the dressing room door, Rachel felt the woman's dark eyes following her and she definitely couldn’t help but think that there was something quite odd about that.

\---

After having been checked by both Kurt and Mercedes, and deemed perfect, Rachel and Quinn decided to have a little walk around the venue, wanting some time together before they had to go and perform. Without warning Rachel stopped, tugging on Quinn's hand when the blonde didn’t notice her lack of movement. Quinn stumbled a little bit from her pulling and she smiled sheepishly under the blonde's glare. She rose up to kiss the pregnant girl's cheek in apology and she kept her lips there until she felt Quinn's cheeks lift and she leaned back. A wild fluttering started in her stomach as she anticipated the charmingly crooked smile on soft, pink lips. 

When she finally saw it, Rachel forgot for a second what it was that made her want to stop and she wondered whether there would be a moment when Quinn wouldn’t affect her like this, where words left her and her body  _ strained _ to draw closer to the blonde. From the way that her heart squeezed tightly in her chest though, she didn’t think that moment would come, if ever. Her awe turned into confusion when Quinn’s eyebrow arched up in amusement and Rachel fumbled with her words, averting her eyes so that she would stop getting lost into those hypnotizing hazel-green eyes.

Her gaze then landed on the person that caught her eyes previously so she pointed at them for Quinn to follow, as she tried once more to speak. “It's Jesse,” she uttered finally, noticing the blonde’s smile drop instantly at the mention and sight of the male lead but not really knowing why. “We should go say hello,” she added, oblivious to the green-eyed monster making its presence known as she tugged on the blonde's hand, gesturing towards Jesse, who hadn’t seen them just yet.

The blonde vehemently shook her head, a scowl across her pale features as she kept her feet planted to the ground, unwilling to move anywhere near the curly-haired boy. “Uh  _ no _ , no way. I'd rather not bear witness to him drooling over you, thank you very much.” When Rachel just threw her an incredulous look, Quinn scoffed disbelievingly. “Are you kidding? Did you not see the way his beady eyes were practically  _ undressing _ you while you were singing that song together?” But much to her annoyance, Rachel's look of incredulity just deepened, as if she honestly could not believe what Quinn was saying and didn’t understand why she was saying it.

Rachel tried to replay that afternoon at the music store in her head, trying to remember just what happened that day from the very first second that Jesse introduced himself to them, all the way to their impromptu performance and before she and Quinn left to go back home. But she came up empty and she could only shrug though her mind still raced to figure it out. “Quinn, I really have no idea what you are tal- Oh!” she loudly exclaimed, realization painted very clearly on her face. “ _ That's _ why you were acting so weird when he asked me out! Oh goodness Quinn, are you  _ jealous _ ?”

Quinn let out a gasp of protest, gaping at the diva. “I most certainly am  _ not _ jealous! I just, don't like the guy,” she replied as she crosses her arms, pouting at the accusation. Her hot, pink cheeks betrayed her though, and Rachel had to hold herself back from giggling at the blonde's adorable display of petulance.

“Right, because  _ that’s _ why you look like you want to shave off all his hair right now. You  _ aren’t _ jealous. In retrospect, your behaviour towards him at the time really does make so much more sense now.”

“Come on! Are you seriously telling me that apart from his voice, he is  _ that _ amazing? This is the guy who tried to impress you about where he's going to college. “ _ It's in Los Angeles, _ ” she repeated mockingly. “Well duh, you moron, it's  _ called _ the University of California,  _ Los Angeles _ . Clearly, he didn't score the scholarship by the merit of his  _ intelligence, _ ” ending her rant with a well-placed huff, not at all impressed by the impish smile on Rachel's face that was all-knowing and just,  _ annoying _ .

“You're cute when you're jealous,” Rachel teased.

Quinn scoffed again. “Only when I'm jealous?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing into a sad frown as she pouted once again, making sure to push her bottom lip even further, inwardly cheering when brown eyes immediately fell to her mouth.

Rachel stopped her chuckling to look at the blonde with her irresistible lips, gorgeous blonde locks and penetrating hazel eyes, and her heart raced just thinking of the fact that this flawless beauty was  _ hers _ to love. She raised her hand to a delicate cheek, her thumb gently stroking the pale skin underneath her palm and Rachel quietly shook her head that no, it  _ wasn’t _ only when Quinn was jealous.

She had always thought that Quinn was one of the most prettiest girls that she had ever seen, with smooth waves of golden locks falling down her shoulders that Rachel loved to feel as they glided through her fingers, captivating hazel eyes that seemed to rapturously follow Rachel's every move causing the diva to feel so overwhelmingly wanted and desirable from their attention, and then god,  _ sinfully _ tempting lips that Rachel couldn’t stop kissing or wanting to kiss. She never thought it could be possible and maybe it was actually just her yearning, her longing, her  _ hunger _ for Quinn but it seemed that with each passing day, the blonde's beauty just seemed to intensify in her eyes. 

There were just not enough words that she could use to describe just how truly beautiful she found the blonde, how Rachel's heart ached so painfully for her, craving to be closer to her than it was possible to be. So Rachel just kept her dark eyes intently locked with hazel-green ones, willing for every bit of feeling that she had for the other girl to shine right through.

A fiery blush took over her cheeks as her heart fluttered at the reverent way that Rachel was looking at her, and she marveled at how easy it was to see now, Rachel's gaze filled with piercing desire that burned brightly in those mocha-coloured eyes, and it was all for  _ her _ . She brought her hand up to keep Rachel's on her face before angling her head slightly to briefly kiss the tanned palm, and then leaning into it as she nuzzled her cheek against it.

“Rachel Berry.”

The sudden mention of her name by a voice that wasn’t Quinn's, this was deeper and much more controlled from years of vocal training, forced Rachel to remember that she and Quinn weren’t actually alone, that they were standing somewhere in a crowded hall filled with people coming and going. She was just so caught up, losing herself in the deep swirls of Quinn's hazel eyes, in the blonde's disarming smile and her alluring scent that she very uncharacteristically blushed at being so abruptly interrupted. 

She turned around to see that it was the very boy that she intended on seeing before Quinn distracted her and for the life of her, Rachel was actually  _ struggling _ to recollect his name, even though it was on the very tip of her tongue. Such was the effect of falling under Quinn's spell, where the only words that went through her mind was the blonde's name and nothing else. 

She realized however that his blue-eyed gaze wasn’t on her but on her hand that was still folded with a pale hand on Quinn's cheek and she lowered them down, keeping their fingers linked together because she could see the impatient scowl already plastered on Quinn's face at his presence. When the blonde lightly squeezed her hand, Rachel's memory refreshed itself, the boy's name finally flashing in her brain and Rachel automatically lifted her chin to haughtily reply, “Jesse St. James,” and she commended herself on being able to steadily say his name without betraying her thoughts that were still very much Quinn-related.

He shifted his stare back to Rachel’s brown eyes and bowed dramatically. “So we meet again.”

“So we do.”

Quinn sighed in exasperation, rolled her eyes and shook her head wondering once again whether that tumbleweed had passed by. She also thought about whether this whole tendency to over-dramatize even the most  _ trivial _ of events like meeting somebody, was some sort of prerequisite to being a diva. As she mentally stepped back to really watch them both, she was reminded of their staggering similarities, knowing that if they weren’t so separated by the boundaries of rivalry, they would have been able to form some type of bond of camaraderie, sharing the same big dream of leaving Lima and to someday see their name lit up Broadway. 

And though she loved watching Rachel being all indignant and defensive because it was such a turn-on, Quinn was still not in the mood to also witness Jesse's beady eyes roaming over her girl. She let go of Rachel's hand to snake her arm around the brunette's waist, pulling the smaller girl closer to her as she interrupted the warring silence between the two, “Obviously we would since y'know,  _ both _ our teams are competing. I would say 'break a leg', Jesse, but I'm afraid that my unconscious intention is for the phrase to be taken literally rather than figuratively.”

Jesse's eyebrows lifted up in surprise at the blonde’s loathing tone though his blue eyes showed his amusement at her very obvious display of possessiveness over the petite brunette between them. He pressed a hand to his chest, “Your words  _ wound _ me, Miss Fabray. What did  _ I _ do to deserve such a harsh sentiment?” he innocently asked the blonde though by the tone of his voice, it was very obvious that he knew the answer very well.

And so did Rachel when she noticed then that Quinn started to bare her teeth as if she was getting ready to actually bite Jesse's head off, so she bodily stepped in front of the blonde, keeping her from moving forward. She smiled shakily at the curly-haired boy. “I apologize, Jesse. Quinn is just getting into the spirit of competition.” Rachel glanced at the blonde, hoping that Quinn would get the hint to retract her claws but Quinn has her own eyes locked onto one Jesse St. James, silently challenging him to make her angry.

Quinn watched the male lead simply nodding at Rachel's explanation and waved it off with an air of indifference. “You shouldn't feel the need to do that. Vocal Adrenaline is going to very easily crush New Directions and your well-intentioned mediocrity,” he replied with an arrogant smirk.

And it was the wrong thing to say as Quinn stepped around Rachel, intent on chasing down one Jesse St. James and making him regret for that comment when she was held back by a pair of arms around her waist. “Rachel, let me go,” she growled heatedly, her lips curling into a vicious snarl.

“Jesse, I  _ strongly _ suggest that you make haste if you want to keep your hair,” Rachel warned the boy who was gaping at the blonde, a tinge of fear in his blue eyes as he finally saw that Quinn Fabray really wasn’t somebody to mess around with, especially when it came to the ones she loved. The boy nodded absently and spun around to head back to his team in a hurried pace.

The blonde was still fighting to get to the retreating male when Rachel tightened her hold until their bodies were flush together and damn it to hell, Quinn's annoyance with Jesse completely faded away as the feel of Rachel against her ignited her foremost desire to keep in contact with the smaller girl. Quinn stopped trying to wrangle free and instead leaned back, melting completely into Rachel, placing her own arms on the tanned ones around her waist. “Sorry,” she muttered, embarrassed by her lack of restraint.

Rachel unwrapped her arms, gently turning the taller girl around so that they were face to face and she could see Quinn’s remorseful hazel eyes. “It’s okay,” she smiled reassuringly as she placed her arms back around Quinn's waist, letting their foreheads press together as they soaked in the other's warmth. “You were just defending the honour of the club and I am,  _ really _ proud of you for wanting to do that when just a few months ago, you were plotting our demise.”

Quinn fought down the shame curling in her gut at Rachel's reminder of her past misdeeds towards the club and focused instead on the rest of the brunette's words and she smiled softly at the girl. “You guys have done a lot for me,  _ especially _ you, and for Jesse to say something like that was  _ so _ out of line, it just, it made me see  _ red _ ,” she growled, feeling that anger began to rise again only to be quashed once again when Rachel's lips pressed deliciously against hers but before she could return the kiss, the brunette pulled away.

The diva raised her hands to cup both sides of Quinn's face. “Well, we're just going to have to prove him wrong, aren't we?” she murmured, prompting the blonde with a confident grin. She brought her hands down to capture Quinn's, pulling her across the room to join the others who had started to gather around, ready to go backstage to their designated positions. And with a teasing smile to the blonde, “Now come on tiger, let's go win some hearts.”

\---

It had been almost sixteen years ago since she laid eyes on Rachel Berry until a few months ago when she attended Sectionals with her team to scope out the competition that they were going to face at Regionals. She remembered rolling her eyes when they started with  _ Don't Rain on My Parade _ , a song she had heard  _ butchered _ by others many times before.

But then she heard that voice,  _ Rachel's _ voice, and Shelby instantly felt a chill coursing up and down her spine and as she watched this petite brunette moving from the back of the hall through the aisle and down to the stage, there had been no doubt that she was seeing Rachel, the baby that she had given away to Malachi and Stephen Berry. Even before Rachel got through the first verse, Shelby  _ knew _ that Vocal Adrenaline would be competing with New Directions at Regionals.

Rachel Berry had proven to be an  _ undeniable _ stage presence as evident by the effortless way she made the audience fall in love with her and her winsome smile as she and her male lead, Finn Hudson, walked up to the stage while singing Journey's  _ Faithfully _ .

When she first moved back to Ohio, to Carmel, which was so much closer to Lima than New York had ever been, Shelby was adamant that she was going to keep her end of the contract that she had signed with the Berry men; content to appreciate Rachel from afar. She didn't want to disrupt Rachel's life, knowing that she had no right to even  _ know _ the girl. But earlier, when she saw her wandering around in the main hall, with this look of pure awe in her brown eyes, Shelby felt herself unconsciously gravitating towards her and before she knew it she was already calling out Rachel's name.

She fought with herself to not spill the truth, to  _ not _ show more that would make Rachel suspect anything. As long as she kept everything professional, she was fine. To the outside world, she was just a coach and Rachel was just a student, both from opposing teams but still having a perfectly civil conversation.

Shelby let out a huff of laughter, thinking of Rachel's blunt nature, shaking her head as she thought of the similar traits that they seemed to share. It still impressed her now as she thought of Rachel’s confidence and inner strength when she implied of the bullying that she was enduring in school because of her parents. That had been the one thing that Shelby endlessly worried about while deciding over whether to be a surrogate for the Berry men because she knew that towns like Lima had a big problem accepting unconventional ways of living, even more so back then.

There was a time in a mother’s life when she grasped onto the fact that her life had become forfeit to her child’s, when she discovered the very,  _ very _ , far lengths she would go to just to make sure that child was safe, protected and happy, when she caught on that just because of this little being growing inside of her for nine months, her life would never be the same again. It was however, a moment that never ended because really, there wasn’t a time when she  _ wasn’t _ thinking it. 

It started from that very first second when she founf out that she was expecting and it just- it  _ never _ stopped, even after, as in the case of one Shelby Corcoran, she gave that child away. Once she was in New York, she expected the rule of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ to come into play but instead, the feeling intensified because to this day, she still hoped so desperately that she made the right decision in signing her rights away.

She still thought of that very first moment she held Rachel in her arms, could still recall the fluttering in her chest at the dark eyes that looked up at her, sparkling  _ so _ brightly even back then. With just one glance, Shelby Corcoran was hooked and her heart broke as she fell in love with the beautiful baby girl in her embrace,  _ her _ beautiful baby girl. She felt an unbridled affection; an emotion that she had never felt before for another person, sweeping right through her and it left her in awe at just how easily she fell under Rachel's spell.

She recalled fighting back the tears when she saw Rachel's little smile, her very first smile, as she held Shelby's index finger in a small but tight grip. Shelby couldn’t think of another moment in her life when she ever felt as invincible as when Rachel gazed up at her with her trusting, innocent eyes. Not even when she stood on stage, singing her heart out with all eyes on her, had she ever felt such strength inside her. And it was with that strength that Shelby channelled to let go of her daughter when Steve and Malachi Berry came to claim her.

Shelby tried not to have too many regrets. She liked to think things through before doing anything, not very much a fan of impulsive actions. Even when she was a teenager in high school when hormones ran rampant and caused common senses to falter, Shelby steered clear of it all and stuck to her plan of studying and making sure that her voice was the best that it could be and stayed that way. She had dreams,  _ big _ dreams of making it onto Broadway and there was nothing that was going to keep her from accomplishing them. Shelby knew that she had a gift, a voice that could capture hearts and make people  _ see _ her. Nobody paid attention to her but her voice, now  _ that _ made them look twice.

However, Rachel or any other child for that matter,  _ wasn’t _ a part of Shelby’s dream. New York was waiting for Shelby and she didn’t want to make it wait for too long. Once there, she threw herself into auditions, classes and the many jobs she took just so she could keep living there. For awhile, the feeling of regret dissipated and she was consumed by her obsession of making it.

But there were other times, like some holidays and especially birthdays (hers and Rachel's), when she would feel this twisting pain in her chest, like everything was just nothing but a hollow emptiness inside her, like there was a missing piece to her and she had left it behind in Lima. Even now Shelby felt that aching desperation in the pit of her stomach, the black hole in her heart that cried for the baby girl that she had given away sixteen years ago.

That very same baby girl had grown up into the extraordinary, beautiful young woman currently singing her heart out on stage with her very own glee club, easily capturing the audience's hearts just as Shelby herself had always hoped to do in New York. Maternal pride built inside her until they were so overwhelming that tears blurred her vision when Rachel hit a high note, and her eyes were closed, lost in the music. Shelby closed her own in turn, feeling the tears spill down her cheeks as her heart burst with joy and love for her baby girl who would never know that her mother was watching her.

\---

The applause was instantaneous, boisterous and rang loudly in their ears as they walked off the stage. Every single member of New Directions was pumped with adrenaline, heavily dosed with a confidence, knowing that they had shown everybody, especially Vocal Adrenaline, to  _ never _ underestimate them. 

As if by unspoken agreement, by the time they reached their dressing room, everybody crowded around to form a circle, arms around each other's waists and they all bowed their heads, silently taking in the beautiful moment, knowing that they  _ totally _ kicked ass out there. There were proud smiles on all their faces, tears in their eyes because god, it just felt so  _ good _ to be here and they knew that whatever the results might be, they were all winners at this very moment. They all exchanged soft smiles when they eventually dispersed into their little groups where they would wait until the judges called them back.

Quinn stood with Brittany, Santana and Puck, leaning back against the wall in the far corner of their dressing room while Rachel was just outside having a discussion with Finn and Mr. Schuester. Quinn’s hazel gaze moved from Brittany’s baby blues when she heard the sound of her name coming from her girlfriend. She was met with the sight of Rachel glaring mildly at her with her hands on her hips. 

She had a very faint idea why the diva looked about ready to scold her and if it wasn’t for the playful twinkle in her dark brown eyes, Quinn would have thought that she was actually in trouble. She played along anyway, her eyes widening as she gave the diva a confused smile and a  _ what-did-I-do _ shrug as their friends watched, confused as to why Rachel seemed ticked off.

The tiny brunette arched an eyebrow in disbelief and pointed an accusing finger at her. “Don't you try look so innocent, Quinn Fabray. Did you think that I wouldn’t notice that tongue of yours sticking out at me during the medley?”

“Saw that, huh?” she snarkily replied; knowing that there wasn’t much point to her trying to deny it. It wouldn’t have been the first time that happened. The blonde’s mind flashed back to the  _ Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’ _ part of the medley when Rachel’s hips were moving in a dangerous fashion in front of Quinn. Dangerous to Quinn’s  _ hormones _ , that was. 

Even after so many weeks of tirelessly rehearsing the number, her libido  _ still _ got the best of her, leaving her weak and  _ completely _ unable to resist Rachel whenever she moved with long, tanned legs flashing so teasingly before her and Quinn had a hard time keeping her eyes away from the hypnotizing diva just so she could actually concentrate on her own moves. She could feel a spike in her body temperature as she recalled the mischievous glint in Rachel’s brown eyes while she danced. She doubted that it was something that would ever change, the way her focus just zeroed in on the smaller girl, the way the entire world just disappeared at the very sight of her and everything else was silent except for the rapid beat of her heart.

At the startling sound of their friends’ laughter, Quinn’s cheeks reddened and she raised her hand to scratch the back of her neck as she smiled apologetically at the brunette shaking her head. Rachel opened her mouth to continue only to have Brittany surprise them all when she sweetly chimed in, “Don’t worry about it, Q. I was  _ totally _ looking too.”

They shouldn't really be surprised by the outburst because well, it was  _ Brittany _ and she did have a tendency to say things that would either confuse them or shock them. But still, their mouths fell open and their eyes widened, and it took a moment before a wide range of different emotions showed in all of them. Rachel's face warmed over as the blood rushed to her face whereas Quinn's hazel eyes flashed with possessiveness. Puck, well, he was just really turned on by the idea of any hot girl checking out another hot girl even if they were sort of his friends. Santana, on the other hand, was definitely  _ not _ turned on and more than a little put off by the thought of her girlfriend checking out another girl, especially when that girl happened to be somebody she had come to see as sort of a sister.

The taller blonde turned to her girlfriend, shrugging guiltlessly. “What? Rachel's ass is super hot,” she announced, clicking her tongue and winking exaggeratedly at Rachel and the diva's blush deepened at the unexpected praise. They all snickered when Quinn made a show of taking hold of Rachel's waist, pulling her closer while the smaller girl squeaked in response at the unexpected move.

Puck nodded in approval, licking his lips before putting on his trademark smirk. “This whole conversation is super hot,” he added lecherously, earning simultaneous eye-rolls from the four girls.

\---

They were all quietly talking with each other when they heard somebody calling Rachel's name and they looked up to see an older brunette woman standing in the doorway with a nervous smile, her eyes intently set on the diva. Quinn frowned at the stranger's presence, instantly suspicious as to who she was and how she knew Rachel. Santana furtively pushed off the wall she was leaning against, crossing her arms as her dark eyes clearly showed her own wariness as well. They both turned to Rachel, softening only when they saw a surprised but warm, friendly smile on the diva's face.

Rachel stepped towards the older woman, “Miss Corcoran, hello again.”

Shelby's eyes darted in between the pregnant blonde and the other brunette, inwardly scoffing at their mediocre attempt to intimidate her. A part of her though, was kind of impressed and happy that Rachel had such people around her. At least she knew that her baby would always be looked after. She returned her gaze to Rachel, smiling softly at her. “May I speak with you for a moment?” she asked politely, hoping that her nervousness wasn’t showing.

Funnily enough, though those two girls didn’t scare her, just the very  _ idea _ of approaching her own daughter who didn’t even  _ know _ she even existed, well, it was pretty terrifying. But this could be her very last chance to talk to Rachel and Shelby wanted to take it. She let out an inaudible sigh of relief when Rachel nodded slightly before turning to the pregnant blonde (Quinn, she noted to herself), letting her know that she would be right back.

Shelby took notice of the soft smiles that the two teenagers were exchanging and the way the blonde placed a protective hand on the small of Rachel’s back, leaning forward only to stop herself short as if she remembered where she was. Shelby's eyebrow arched in interest only to bring it back down, masking her suspicion when Quinn’s hazel eyes narrowed into an icy glare and she was the very specific target, as if to warn Shelby that she was being watched. 

Shelby walked further inside the room but still not too far from the door and Rachel followed close behind. The four teenagers watched as Rachel conversed quietly and smiling with the older brunette. Santana lightly elbowed the pregnant blonde to get her attention back from burning a hole into the woman’s back. She gestured her head in Rachel’s direction when hazel eyes met hers.

“So who’s  _ Miss Corcoran _ ?” she asked quietly, voicing the question that was sure to be on all their minds since the moment that woman approached Rachel right from out of nowhere. But Quinn only shrugged and shook her head in reply as she herself did not know who it was though what she did know was that she was not getting a good feeling from the woman at all. And she knew from the suspicion in her brown eyes, Santana agreed with her too.

It was Puck who answered her question when he spoke in a hushed whisper, “I think she's Vocal Adrenaline's coach or something. I saw her barking out orders at them earlier, something about show-faces or whatever.” He shrugged at their questioning looks. How the hell was he supposed to know what a damn show-face was? That kind of crazy talk sounded more like something  _ Berry _ would say and she was in the middle of a conversation with some woman, who was sparking a feeling of familiarity in him. Usually, when Puck got this feeling, it  _ usually _ meant that she waa somebody that he had hooked up with before but he was pretty sure that he definitely did not do that with this lady, even though she was exactly his type, older and  _ smokin’ _ hot.

Quinn rolled her eyes, curling her lip in disgust when she noticed Puck’s appreciative gaze moving over Miss Corcoran. “Ew Puckerman, grow up,” she hissed as she flicked his forehead, getting his attention away from the older brunette. She rolled her eyes again, offering no apology when he pouted , rubbing at his forehead.

“You know, she and Rachel kind of look a little bit alike,” Brittany commented, making the three of them look again at the conversing brunettes. They made a comical display of tilting their heads at the same time as three pairs of eyes appraised Shelby Corcoran while the glee coach talked to Rachel, unaware of the scrutiny that was on her.

After a minute or so, Santana broke the silence. “They  _ do _ look like they could be related,” she conceded with a shrug, giving her girlfriend a soft smile when the taller blonde beamed at her for agreeing. Puck and Quinn nodded along because really, a person had to be blind to not notice the striking similarities in the brunettes’ features. Santana went to grab hold of her girlfriend's hand, craving some kind of contact with the blonde when she noticed Quinn’s body tensing.

She looked up to see the pregnant blonde's attention had been caught by somebody new standing in the doorway, glaring with a fire that Santana had never seen before in her hazel eyes. She recognised instantly that it was somebody from Vocal Adrenaline, from the eye-sore of a costume that she had been subjected to seeing all damn day. She wondered out loud who this boy waa and her eyebrow arched when Quinn hissed out his name. 

“What kind of a tool has a name like  _ Jesse St. James _ ?” she asked in a mocking tone, as she tried to figure out what the blonde's deal was. Sure, Quinn could be pretty hostile, Santana had seen that in previous cheerleading competitions, and even more so since she became pregnant but this was just a little bit much.

Quinn looked like she would love nothing more than to subject the guy under some kind of torture that Coach Sylvester always talked about during practice. Oblivious to their eyes on him, Santana followed where his gaze seemed to be, all the way to his Glee coach and Berry, who were still laughing and talking about whatever. She figured that he was probably looking for Miss Corcoran but when she saw the way his eyes lit up at seeing Rachel as well, the reason for Quinn's hostility became all too clear now. Santana smirked teasingly. “Damn Q, shut down those laser beams. What are you trying to do, burn a hole in his head?”

Puck joined in the teasing by leaning close enough to whisper teasingly in the blonde's ear, “He's not breathing down Berry's neck again so simmer down, princess,” and the mohawked boy swore he heard a fierce growl coming from Quinn when she moved her glare to him instead. Puck forced himself to  _ not _ cower under her stare, while mentally noting to himself to never poke at a jealous Quinn because well, she was kind of scary.

Santana however, was unruffled by it and just scoffed, rolling her eyes at Quinn's behaviour, earning another indignant glare from the blonde. She kept her dark eyes on the blonde's hazel ones until Quinn finally backed down with an annoyed pout.

“You guys  _ suck _ . I'm going to go sit down. My feet are hurting,” she muttered before storming off to the nearby sofa. She still wanted to keep an eye on that Shelby woman and she had a feeling she was going to need that other eye to be on St. James. She was just so tired though. Maybe it would be okay if she just lay down for awhile.

\---

She hadn’t been on the sofa, laying against the back with her eyes closed, for more than a couple of minutes when she heard a deep voice that belonged to a certain somebody that she  _ really _ didn’t want to see or talk to right now. 

Quinn tightened her eyelids shut; wishing with all her might that when she finally opened them, he wouldn’t be there and there would be something  _ so _ much better in his place. Like Rachel. Or a plate of bacon. Or Rachel  _ with _ a plate of bacon. Now that would be the best. Hell, Quinn would even take the nauseating sight of  _ Santana and Brittany _ making out in front of her at this point, just as long as it wasn’t  _ him _ .

She took in a deep breath in preparation before deeming it enough time and finally opened her eyes.

Apparently the Fates were  _ not _ in the mood to grant her any sort of reprieve in the form of Rachel, bacon or otherwise.

Frankly, she thought, the Fates were just  _ stupid _ .

Jesse St. James stood in front of her, cocky smirk in place and curly hair purposefully  _ not _ in place. Quinn bet herself that he spent longer than she did in getting his hair the way he liked it. She contemplated on whether she should tell him that it just looked messy and way greasy. He looked at her in the same way that he did that day in the music store, like he was so much better than her in every way and much more perfect for Rachel than her. And of course Quinn looked back at him in the same way that she was that day too, like she wanted to punch him right in his handsome face, wondering then if he was as protective of his nose just as much as Rachel was. Not that Quinn cared. She’d break the damn thing if she could.

Quinn glanced over at Rachel, knowing that if she just caught a glimpse of her girlfriend, she would calm down and not want to violently react to the boy in front of her. Brown eyes were looking back with a worried shine, as if Rachel knew just what was going through her mind. Of course she did. Quinn hadn’t exactly been stealthy in her distaste for the male lead. But her obvious concerns gave Quinn pause, reminding the pregnant blonde that she needed to  _ not _ react on her violent impulses.

His annoyingly beautiful voice broke Quinn out of her thoughts. “So I see that you got the girl, huh?”

“Excuse me?” she asked bitingly as she sat up, not at all fond of the unequal dynamic of his standing over her and swung her legs over to plant her feet to the floor. Her top lip curled into a sneer as she looked up at him, rolling her glaring eyes as he leaned to rest his weight on his left foot, probably trying to once again look all James Dean-like, which she conceded  _ might _ have worked, if he wasn’t wearing that pink shirt. Her eyes were hurting and she wasn’t even looking  _ directly _ at the material. She guessed though that it probably didn’t matter what they looked like when it was their combined voices that did, at least, in the grand scheme of Regionals anyway. But still,  _ somebody _ needed to school whoever did their wardrobe that there was a fine line between eye- _ catching _ and eye- _ sore _ .

The male lead smirked at her as he took the now vacant space beside her. “I'm talking about our dear little diva.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Rachel told her that it wasn't very sportsman-like, the blonde would have happily smacked him right there and then. But no, Quinn remembered that Vocal Adrenaline hadn’t gone up to perform yet and it might not look so good if their male leads showed up singing with a hand-print marked on his face. 

It would be  _ funny _ but she doubted Rachel would be very impressed with her. Santana and Puck, maybe, but Rachel definitely would not be, so instead of going with her instinct to hit him, Quinn insistently poked him hard on the chest. “ _ You _ don't know her so  _ you _ don't have the right to call her 'our' anything so  _ you _ shut the hell up, St. James.”

He chuckled as he rubbed at his chest, successfully hiding his grimace because yes, it did kind of hurt but ultimately, he was extremely amused by Quinn’s display of aggression towards him. Sure, earlier he was a tad taken aback by her ferocity but he knew women who were  _ far _ frightening than she was, one of them being the woman who was currently talking to Rachel.

He raised his hands in surrender. “Hey now, I come in peace. There is no need to bite my head off. Is it  _ so _ hard to believe that I just wanted to talk?” The blonde only crossed her arms, her eyebrow raised challengingly as if she was telling him that yes, it  _ was _ hard to believe.

For a few moments, the two teenagers stared at each other, willing the other to give up first. While Quinn was  _ obviously _ planning a way to get rid of him, Jesse took a real good look at the mother-to-be. She was so protective (and frighteningly possessive) over the petite diva that he knew if he kept needling her like this, he could kiss his chances of being Rachel's friend goodbye.

For all his teasing, Jesse truly did want to get to know Rachel and sure, he was interested in her as more than a friend but he wasn’t blind. He saw the looks that she and Quinn were sharing that day at the music store.  _ Anybody _ could feel the thick tension that was between them back then.

Quinn was on the defensive, he knew this. He had had girlfriends who were exactly like this and he  _ knew _ the only way to get through them was to be brutally honest with them. “I am many things, Miss Fabray. Driven. Confident.  _ Divinely _ talented,” he pauses to glance over at Quinn who was in the middle of the most spectacular eye-roll that he had ever seen and he smirked at the expected reaction. He waited until she was done and was looking back at him and he leveled his stare back at her, his blue eyes no longer flashing with humor as he attempted to convey sincerity with his next words. “But I do not get in the way of love when I  _ know _ it's there.”

Maybe it was because she was pregnant and Quinn was just a  _ little _ bit more receptive (‘ _ sensitive’ _ as Rachel had been inclined to more than occasionally put it) to such sappy sentiment as that but whatever it was, it made her all weepy and maybe craving some chocolate. But there was just something in the way that Jesse said it that made Quinn think that maybe he  _ was _ being genuine about wanting to be Rachel’s friend.

She grunted, annoyed as she felt herself softening towards the boy. Damn it. “Fine,” she sighed in defeat, too tired and exhausted to argue. “It wouldn't have mattered anyway if I don’t like you since it won’t do a damn thing to change Rachel's mind if she wants to get to know you, just because she's so annoyingly stubborn,” she muttered.

“I know a couple of women who are  _ exactly _ like that,” he intoned, nodding in sympathy, sneaking a quick glance over at his glee coach.

Quinn didn’t miss the look he made to Miss Corcoran and it confused her for a second until she pushed it away, not really caring as to what he meant by it. It wasn't like he was going to be  _ her _ friend. “Just so you know, I’m  _ still _ going to keep my eye on you, St. James,” she warned with a glare.

He grinned knowingly, chuckling under his breath. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Both of them looked up when they heard the five-minute call for Vocal Adrenaline to be ready. Quinn turned to the male lead who was now dusting off imaginary lint off his shirt. She rolled her eyes when he took out a pocket mirror to check his hair. “Break a leg,” she uttered.

Jesse looked back at her in surprise. “Thanks,” he slowly replied, still caught off-guard by her wish of good luck and he thought that maybe-

“I  _ still _ mean for it to be taken literally,” she said with a smirk, cutting off his previous thought that maybe given time she could actually like him enough to befriend him.

The curly-haired boy just let out a laugh and shook his head in response. “I didn’t think otherwise,” he replied as he got off the sofa, leaving the pregnant girl to finally find her rest.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who have read the original BYDKT on FFn, this is where I think I stopped? So the next chapter will be a completely new one. Or the chapter after that. But basically, we're close to an adventure, :p.
> 
> Also, old readers might notice that some things are different in the chapter, and you would be absolutely correct, :).
> 
> Hope you all are having a good weekend!

Rachel wasn’t exactly sure why Miss Corcoran had made such an effort to look for her and actually  _ requested _ to talk to her again. She honestly believed that though the older woman denied it earlier, she was indeed trying to convince Rachel to defect to Vocal Adrenaline. 

It would hardly be surprising since Rachel was  _ more _ than certain that she was a far capable singer than Andrea Cohen, their current female lead. And she had heard of the many questionable methods that Miss Corcoran used to get her team to perfection, which of course was something that Rachel understood very well. After all, she demanded nothing less than perfection from herself. But despite her initial wariness, she remembered as well that the older woman was highly respected for her accomplishments with Vocal Adrenaline so she figured there was really no harm in trying to form a connection with Shelby Corcoran, even if she  _ was _ the competition.

Plus, there was just something about Shelby Corcoran that made Rachel  _ want _ to tell her everything, about her day, about her life, about Quinn,  _ everything _ . Like that there was something inside telling her that Miss Corcoran  _ wanted _ to hear these things from her, which was weird for Rachel because well, apart from her parents, most adults usually tried to steer clear of her, never wanting to actually  _ hear _ her talk at great lengths.

Shelby quietly cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the nervousness lodged inside it, the sound pulling the younger brunette out of her thoughts. “Rachel, you were,  _ really _ good out there,” she praised, fighting to keep the gushing to a minimum. She may be a proud mother but she was also a consummate professional.

The young diva’s heart fluttered at the sincere compliment, wondering about the subtle pride that was in the older woman’s voice but decided to ignore it for now, choosing to focus instead on the fact that one of the top glee coaches in the country had just praised her performance. “Thank you, Miss Corcoran,” she replied, offering the woman an uncharacteristically shy smile, ducking her head down as a blush appeared on her cheeks.

The older brunette meanwhile grinned happily at the effect her compliment had on the girl. “Call me Shelby,” she murmured. Rachel, for her part, was bewildered as to why she was being given permission to address an adult in such a familiar way but thankfully didn’t say anything but just nodded. “So, were those your friends?” she asked, gesturing back towards the group that Rachel was with a few minutes before.

Rachel looked back at the group, seeing them not even trying to hide the fact they had been staring at her and she smiled, rolling her eyes at their behaviour. She knew though that they were just watching out for her. She shook her head, wondering how she managed to find the group of friends that were so wildly protective over each other, and even more so over her. “Yes, they’re the best friends I could ever ask for,” she said in quiet disbelief that she had gone from being utterly friendless to knowing these amazing people. 

She was about to add more when she saw the contemplation in Shelby’s eyes, her head tilting to the side as if there was a question that she was aching to ask but she wasn’t sure how to address it. Rachel didn’t know how she was thinking this at all but  _ god _ , there was just  _ something _ about this Shelby woman but she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

“That shorter blonde girl though,” she started casually, almost nonchalantly, rather than something that had been burning a hole in her brain since the moment she saw them interact, “you don't look at her like she's just a friend,” she added carefully, not wanting to overstep her boundaries.

And for the first few silent seconds when Rachel didn’t reply right away, Shelby thought that maybe she crossed a line until suddenly she saw the smile that slowly grew on Rachel’s face. Shelby felt like she was watching a sun rising because that was just how Rachel looked, like she was being lighted from the inside at the mere mention of Quinn (she remembered). Her heart cried with joy because oh god, her baby girl was  _ in love _ . Even though she had only known her for barely a day but even Shelby could see the difference that love had on Rachel, how the young diva looked so much more at peace, how her smile was less Broadway and more…  _ true _ .

Yet at the same time, her heart ached because oh god,  _ her baby girl _ was in love. She realized that she couldn’t just sweep Rachel up in her arms to say that she was so happy for her. She couldn’t even tell Rachel that she wanted to meet this Quinn so that she could make sure that this girl wouldn’t ever hurt her little girl. She remembered that she couldn’t even ask to know the history of how it all happened, how they came to be together. She wasn’t the one who got to hear stories of their dates or their fights, because she didn’t have the right.

_ She didn’t have the right. _

The reminder of that truth jarred her though she knew it didn’t show when Rachel failed to mention anything but the words still spun around in her mind. She shouldn’t be doing this. She shouldn’t be trying to connect with Rachel, pretending to  _ not _ know just what Rachel truly meant to her, pretending that she  _ wasn’t _ Rachel’s biological mother. But even in so short a time, Shelby felt like she was already in too deep because she  _ wanted _ to know more. She needed to know more, except she knew that she couldn’t do it like this. It wasn’t right that she was doing it like this.

And Rachel was being  _ so _ trusting with her that it- well, it made Shelby actually feel guilty that she was trying to get to know her daughter while not giving Rachel the same chance to know who she was.

She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when they heard the five-minute call for Vocal Adrenaline. Shelby returned her gaze to the younger brunette, a soft, apologetic smile on her face. “I should be out there to watch my team,” she softly told Rachel, full of regret.    
  
For the briefest of moments, Shelby felt a smidge of resentment towards Vocal Adrenaline for taking her away from Rachel. They hadn’t exchanged more than a few words and  _ already _ Shelby felt the heaviness in her feet as her body  _ screamed _ of her unwillingness to leave Rachel because just  _ god _ , this was  _ Rachel _ , and for that reason alone, Shelby wanted to know everything. 

She wanted to know how old Rachel was when she first realized she wanted to become a star, about the relationship she has with her fathers, about this Quinn girl that Rachel was so very obviously smitten with (and who had been giving her more than a few glares whenever she looked over at them) and whether she thought it was anything serious.

She wanted to know if Rachel had ever missed  _ her _ , because just being in her presence right now told Shelby just how she had missed Rachel, even if she hadn’t actually known it before now. She never anticipated just how much she would be fighting against herself to not take hold of Rachel, bring her into her arms and just never let go.

Rachel nodded. “Of course, and I should get back to Quinn,” she replied, turning her head to look for the blonde. She smiled softly at the very adorable sight of Quinn trying to sleep on the sofa, her heart skipping a beat when bleary hazel eyes opened to meet hers. She almost lost herself in a sea of green and yellow before she remembered that it might just be a little bit rude to very suddenly leave Shelby without a proper goodbye. 

She shook her head, oblivious to the older brunette’s amusement as she smiled shyly. “It was lovely talking to you again, Shelby,” she said, nodding once before turning to move towards her girlfriend only to be stopped when the older brunette called her name and Rachel quickly spun around on her heel.

Shelby bit down on her lip as she thought of what might be her final words to her daughter. She reached to grab the younger girl’s hand but stopped herself in time and instead gently placed her hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “Whatever happens today, I just want you to know that I think that you’re… really,  _ really  _ talented and you should keep doing what you’re doing. I know that you’ll go far with it.”

Rachel seemed to pause at this as she processed everything that Shelby said and she smiled, a blush spreading across her cheeks. “Even to New York?” she asked shyly.

Surprise flashed in the older brunette’s eyes, excitement churning at the pit of her stomach at finding another similarity between her and Rachel. “is that where you want to go?” she asked softly, trying to suppress her wide grin at the shine in Rachel’s brown eyes. Shelby could see the same  _ hunger  _ in the younger girl’s eyes that she had in her own all those years ago. “Then yes, even to New York. They’d be a fool to not let you in.”

“Thank you, Miss Corc- Shelby. It is so very wonderful of you to say that,” she replied with a bashful smile and Shelby nodded slowly before turning around to head outside and watch her team. Meanwhile, Rachel made her way towards her girlfriend, who looked positively angelic with her eyes closed and her blonde hair appearing like a halo over her head. 

While there was some space for her to lay down with her, Quinn looked far too comfortable to be moved so Rachel decided to take a seat on the floor. At least this way, she could easily run her fingers through Quinn's hair without difficulty. She knew that the blonde wasn’t actually sleeping but she continued with her ministrations anyway, knowing that Quinn loved when she did that.

Just as her fingers were at the top of Quinn’s head, ready to run through golden locks again, with her eyes still closed, Quinn mumbled through the comfortable silence, “So how do  _ you _ know Miss Corcoran?”

Though Quinn couldn’t actually see it, the brunette still rolled her eyes at her, having heard the implication in the blonde’s tone. “ _ Please _ don’t tell me that you’re jealous of an older woman,” she chuckled as she continues to brush her fingers through blonde tresses. When her girlfriend only remains silent, Rachel actually stopped to flick the blonde’s nose, prompting hazel eyes to open wide. “Ew Quinn, she’s old enough to be my  _ mother _ .”

Quinn wiggled her nose in the most adorable way before pouting, prompting the brunette to lean forward to press their lips together. The blonde’s content sigh reached Rachel’s ears and she smiled into the kiss, her heart skipping a beat at knowing she was the reason for Quinn’s happiness. Rachel placed a hand on a pale cheek, tenderly brushing her thumb over soft skin as she pulled back slightly, a loving smile already on her lips as her brown eyes waited to meet with her girlfriend’s dark hazel.

When they finally did, both girls remained silent, blissful smiles on their lips as they cherished this moment together. They loved that they were able to do this, just stare deep into each other’s eyes without fear of being embarrassed. or being mocked by their friends They had been told before (by Santana) that it was creepy they didn’t even say a word but neither of them really cared. 

Quinn liked to think that it was because there were just no words or maybe they were  _ too _ many that could be used to describe the feelings that they were experiencing in this moment. Rachel, who was so naturally verbose, always felt something akin to wonder that she was able to do this at all with somebody, and it just felt so natural for silence to surround them with the only sound being the one of their hearts beating together.

The blonde took Rachel’s hand, bringing it up to her lips to place a light kiss on the tanned skin. Quinn shifted her gaze back to her girlfriend. “Lie down with me?” she asked tiredly.

Rachel responded with a smile and a nod before climbing up the sofa and going to lay behind Quinn, automatically wrapping her arm around the blonde to keep her from falling off. She pulled her girlfriend closer until their bodies melded perfectly together as always, with Rachel’s hand folded in Quinn’s, resting protectively over the baby bump. The brunette tenderly kissed Quinn’s neck, softly whispering, “I’ll be right here when you wake up, Quinn,” before she began to hum a familiar melody, gradually lulling the blonde to drift off to sleep.

\---

Her nap didn’t last very long though and it was only about half an hour later when the judges called all three glee clubs to come back on stage to receive the results. It was the  _ longest _ three minutes of their lives as they watched Aural Intensity take second place and it was coming down to them and Vocal Adrenaline for the trophy. As they waited for Coach Sylvester to announce the winner, her hazel eyes surveyed the room and Quinn noticed then the odd look on Shelby Corcoran's face. The Vocal Adrenaline coach was staring so hard at Rachel like she was  _ hoping _ that the brunette would look back and grace her with a smile but Rachel was too entirely focused on Coach Sylvester to even notice.

Rachel stood in between Finn and Mr. Schuester while Quinn herself stood next to Puck, Brittany and Santana. But Quinn wasn’t really listening to what the coach said as she herself kept her eyes on everybody else. They all had such hope burning brightly in their eyes and Rachel even more so. The diva was so  _ certain _ that they would win. And while Quinn believed whole-heartedly in New Directions, they were still too new, too unseasoned. This was only their first year and she thought that it was a  _ miracle _ that they even managed to get this far. It just felt like too much for her to hope to win now.

However, when the words “Vocal Adrenaline” left Coach Sylvester’s lips, Quinn stood still with shock. She never actually thought that she would actually be  _ right _ and now she watched all her friends’ faces fall at the news of their loss. She very faintly heard Artie saying, “We didn’t even place,” as she watched Mr. Schuester looking so  _ disappointed _ even though he was the one who had been drilling it into them that winning didn’t matter and it was very obvious to see that even though he might believe that, he still wanted that trophy too.

Of course, she knew that the real reason they were all like this was because of what it  _ meant _ that they lost: that Glee was officially no more. No more coming together in one room to watch as Mercedes, Kurt and Rachel argued about who got the solo. No more jam sessions with Puck and Artie playing their guitars and Finn on his drums. No more watching Mike, Brittany, Matt and Santana dancing together and showing their skills to everybody else.

Santana who had been standing stoic and unmoving as they waited for the results, was now holding an inconsolable Brittany while her tanned face glistened from her own tears as she cried silently. When the shock wore off, Quinn rushed off as fast as she could to get to her girlfriend, knowing that Rachel was going to need her. She saw Mr. Schuester and Finn with their hands on either side of the diva’s shoulders in a show of comfort, offering what Quinn assumed to be words of reassurance.

When she finally reached them, Quinn touched the brunette’s arm, letting her know that she was there. “Rach...” she said carefully and when the other girl turned, Quinn was stricken once again, this time by the utter distraught and devastation in her love’s dark brown eyes, her eyebrows furrowed together into the saddest frown that the blonde had ever seen. Quinn immediately gathered the girl in her arms, placing a hand on the back of the brunette’s head and guiding her to rest it on her shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” she softly promised and she repeated her words until Rachel finally returned the embrace. Her arms tightened when a soft, heartbreaking cry escaped the brunette’s lips, shaking Quinn to the core.

At any given day, Quinn would cherish having Rachel burrowing her little body into hers, burrowing so deep like she was trying to lose herself in the blonde. She loved that Rachel fit so perfectly against her like a puzzle coming together, loved that Rachel's head tucked seamlessly in the space of Quinn's neck, loved that when Rachel's arms wrapped around her waist, Quinn felt like she was home. Sometimes she thought that she could feel Rachel trying to bring them closer together, as if she just couldn’t get close enough, always wanting more.

But right now, Quinn couldn’t find it in herself to enjoy it when her heart was shattering as the girl in her arms shook violently from the tears that she was failing to keep inside. The blonde bit down hard on her bottom lip, fighting her own tears from falling. Rachel needed her to be the strong one right now and damn it to hell, she was going to do it.

In the corner of her eye, Quinn noticed both Miss Corcoran and Jesse St. James hovering nearby and from their concerned gaze; she knew that they wanted to make sure that Rachel was okay, but the blonde glared furiously at them to stay away. If Rachel was to see them now, it would be like pouring salt into an open wound and Quinn was  _ not _ about to let Rachel get her heart broken even more. She still didn’t know why they cared so much but at this very moment, Rachel was her number one priority so she pushed the thought of them away from her mind as she kept holding on.

They lost. Rachel couldn’t believe it. They  _ lost _ . They all worked so hard and got so far but they still  _ lost _ . Deep down, she had always known that it was a long shot but she honestly thought they  _ still _ had a chance. It had been such a trying year for all of them and it was the very reason why she wanted the win. She wanted them to feel some sort of validation for all their hard work and now they weren’t even going to get a second chance to make it right next year.

She knew that she shouldn’t let her glee-mates see her breaking down like this, that she should be standing up straight and defiant at Vocal Adrenaline, showing them that this defeat wasn’t going to bring her down. But she just needed this moment, one  _ small _ moment to let her frustrations go. Her arms tightened even more around Quinn and she felt the blonde reciprocate the gesture. Rachel took in a deep breath as the pregnant girl’s familiar scent washed over her, sighing as it very slowly unfolded the violent twisting in her chest.

Quinn moved her hand up and down the smaller girl's back while the other brushed through her chestnut locks, hoping that her ministrations would soothe her. It was only when Quinn started to quietly hum the song that she sang for Rachel, all those weeks ago; that the brunette's trembling gradually tapered down.

She loosened her embrace a little, wanting to check on the state that Rachel was in and she pushed back the brunette strands that escaped from Rachel's headband. The diva's brown eyes were bloodshot from the still-falling tears, her cheeks were flushed and her lips were set in a sad pout. Somehow Quinn couldn’t help but think that even like this; Rachel waa still so beautiful to her.

Quinn brought her hands up to tenderly hold Rachel's face and she smiled sadly at the girl. “I’m right here, okay?” she told her, wanting to make sure that Rachel got that she wasn’t going anywhere, that she would be there because Rachel needed her. The brunette nodded fervently. “I lo-” she was about to say when she was cut off by a familiar syrupy voice that had always made her shiver and  _ not _ in the same pleasant way that Rachel’s did.

“Quinny.”

\--

The blonde let out a silent gasp in surprise, knowing just whom that voice belonged to, and for just barely a second, she felt her entire body tensing completely in shock.

It couldn’t be.

It just  _ couldn’t _ be.

She  _ had _ to be dreaming. Right?

It really couldn’t be…

But from the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look in Rachel’s brown eyes (Quinn wouldn’t really be surprised if her own mirrored that very expression too) she knew that she wasn’t dreaming at all. Her hands quickly fell away from Rachel's cheeks and she took in a deep steadying breath as she spun around and she came face to face with, much to her surprise, not  _ just _ her mother but also her father. 

They were both dressed in their best outfits. Not exactly their Sunday best but still something that Quinn knew they wore to impress others. Quinn couldn’t help but inwardly scoff at their attempts to look so above everything else but then, maybe it didn’t work on her because she  _ knew _ the messy truth that was behind the Fabray mask.

“Mom,  _ Dad _ , you're- you're here,” she stuttered embarrassingly, her hazel eyes widening and darting in between one parent to the other. “Wh- what are you doing here?” she uttered in a breathless whisper  _ filled _ with disbelief. Her hazel eyes moved in between the two adults, their plastic smiles fully on display and determination colouring their expressions. 

No matter how many times she blinked and she saw her parents standing before her, Quinn  _ still _ wasn’t sure whether this was real at all. Not even the fluttering in her stomach, nor the wild hammering in her chest seemed to be making her think that this was anything but a dream. The pregnant blonde tried to find some semblance of control over herself but she could feel the baby kicking  _ not _ so very pleasantly, making her doubt very much that this was going to go well.

Deep down inside, a part of her was celebrating; the part of her that still sought her parents’ approval and their love; that part of her rejected the fact that her parents were actually here and knowing that they were here for  _ her _ . But a large part, the significant part that had been living with the Berry family for the past couple of months, the one that had her eyes and her heart opened to what a parent’s love should feel and look like, remembered how the people who were supposedly her parents turned her away and how they didn’t try harder after she turned them down when they came to see her at the hospital. They seemed more  _ offended _ that she’d rather stay with Rachel and her dads than hurt, and though Quinn's mom made what she probably thought was an effort but really wasn't, they swiftly left when the younger blonde didn't back down. Her father didn't say anything. And as she watched them walk away from her, she couldn't help but think then that just as she had chosen not to go with her parents, they had chosen to not fight for her.

Rachel helplessly witnessed her girlfriend's emotional struggle, unable to do anything until frightened hazel eyes turned to meet her own and she knew instantly the role that she had to play. The smaller girl went to take a step forward, slightly shielding the taller blonde from her parents but gave her enough room to do what she needed to do. 

She battled with the urge to reach her hand back, to grab Quinn's and entangled their fingers together to offer her support and whatever strength she could give to her. She would give it all if that was what Quinn needed from her. But while she was keeping herself still, she could sense the girl subtly leaning towards her, and even with the little distance that was already between them, Rachel could already feel the warmth coming from the body behind her.

It was enough for now.

“We would like to talk to you.  _ Alone _ ,” Judy finally replied, stressing on their desire to not air their dirty laundry in front of the people that were currently surrounding the area, despite the fact she was sure that most of them already knew the story anyway. It wasn’t difficult to notice the protective stance that the teenagers had taken, ready to take Quinn away from any impending danger. She was even less surprised at seeing Rachel Berry beside her daughter once again, like she was more than a month and a half ago when Quinn was admitted into the hospital. 

She most definitely did  _ not _ miss the way that Quinn held onto Rachel just a few moments ago but Judy chose to ignore her suspicions, to push those thoughts to the far recesses of her mind just so she didn’t have to think about it. She knew that she shouldn't. After all, it was the same strategy she used when she realized that Quinn was expecting. But she couldn’t bear to think about what this...  _ closeness _ between her daughter and that girl meant. Just... not right now.

As soon as Judy was done, Rachel shook her head, almost aggressively. Her bright brown eyes were dark and narrowed in such an unfriendly fashion that nobody had ever seen on the usually congenial brunette. “No. I am  _ not _ letting her go anywhere with you. How can you even  _ think _ that you have the right to demand anything of her when  _ you _ were the ones that chose to walk away from her?” 

Her words were harsh and the anger left an unfamiliar bitter taste in her mouth. Rachel had never been one to say anything in such a manner, most especially to adults. It was just that the Fabrays did not leave her with the best impression of them and she couldn’t help but feed on the rage that she felt that day. A spark of triumph stirred inside her when Judy winced at her words but it was dashed instantly by regret when she heard her girlfriend quietly whimpered behind her and she scolded herself for speaking too quickly without thought, remembering far too well the sleepless nights that followed because Quinn just could  _ not _ stop crying. 

While yes, Quinn chose to stay with her and her fathers, Rachel knew that the fact that Quinn’s parenrs didn't even  _ try _ to fight for her, greatly affected the blonde. She forgot about the older Fabrays, forgot caring about what they might think and grabbed the blonde's clammy hand, squeezing it in apology. Relief filled her when Quinn squeezed back after a tense second, letting her know that Quinn was right there with her.

Her hazel eyes were steadfast and focused intently on her parents, on her mother and watching the older woman's lips form a terse reply that could not –  _ did not _ – register though she heard the condescending tone, the one that never, ever failed to make her feel less than good enough, the very same one that always shook any confidence she ever felt. The things that she wished to say to her parents, everything that she had ever wanted to say since that night they kicked her out of the house and even the day that they walked away from her in that hospital room – they were all swirling madly in her chest, warring with each other to rise up her throat, wanting to be given a  _ voice _ . 

She wasn’t sure how to describe the emotions that made her heart rage so wildly in her chest nor did she have a name for it. Quinn wanted to show her parents the backbone that she  _ knew _ she had now; the backbone she wished she had the night her father demanded that she pack and get out of the house while declaring her a stranger. She  _ wanted _ them to see the strength that she never knew she had until she lived away from them and their  _ draining _ influence, the strength that she felt when Rachel held her hand...

“Rach.”

The smaller brunette quickly turned when she heard the harried tone in her girlfriend's voice. Quinn was biting down on her bottom lip, her hazel eyes coloured with a wild panic that disappeared when she quickly snapped them shut and the light squeeze on her hand became stronger, almost painful and Rachel fought not to wince at the force of it. 

“What is it?” she whispered even though a knowing feeling grew inside her, validated when the blonde placed her hand on her swollen stomach and she saw the puddle gathering at Quinn's feet, stealing the very words before she could say them.

Quinn watched Rachel's head snap back up, wide brown eyes meeting hers and the diva's jaw slackened. The shock was evident in her stare as the seconds began to stretch as they passed by. Rachel's gaze finally fell back to the floor and her eyes widened even more, finally registering the reason for the small pool at their feet. The blonde took it upon herself to look back to their friends who had been waiting not so very patiently behind them while she and Rachel faced off with her parents, and their eyes were almost as wide as her girlfriend's, their bodies completely frozen in their position. She shrugged calmly and gave them an impish smile, almost as if none of this was happening right now and she tilted her head towards the exit.

“So... Somebody should call for that ambulance soon, right?”

\---

Rachel was breathless as she came charging through the sliding doors of the hospital emergency room, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest after having practically leapt out of the driver's seat of her dad’s car after coming to a stop at the hospital’s entrance, leaving either Steve or Malachi with the task of actually parking it. 

She ran in as fast as she could and with each rushed step, trying to calm herself down from the very fast (and most likely very  _ law-violating _ ) drive from the Regionals venue while her brown eyes searched hurriedly around the room for the familiar head of blonde hair or even the distinguishing Mohawk, just to tell her where she needed to go. 

A part of her was still boiling  _ furiously _ at the Fabrays as they had pulled the “We’re her parents” card when the paramedics had asked who, apart from the baby’s father, was going to ride on the ambulance with them. Rachel growled once more at the flashing image of the arrogant smirks on their faces as they climbed into the vehicle before changing to the fake, plastic smiles they showed to everybody else, as if they had been there from the very beginning and here they were, intent on taking Quinn away from her.

And there was no way in  _ hell _ was Rachel letting that happen without a fight.

Quinn wanted Rachel. She just wanted  _ Rachel _ . Aside from the thoughts of uncomfortable and  _ excruciating _ pain that came just before the ambulance arrived,  _ that _ was the only other thought running around in her head since the moment she was carried away into the vehicle. Her mind  _ cried _ out for Rachel, her hands, her entire  _ body _ itched for some contact of Rachel's skin, to feel her warmth, to breathe in her familiar scent that always made Quinn feel like she was home, but she was so cruelly denied of that comfort when her parents  _ ambushed _ their way into the van with them. 

Their words to her since then were such a blur to her that she couldn’t remember much but she really didn’t care. There was just  _ one _ person she needed right now and that was neither of them. Her hazel eyes were shining,  _ burning _ with tears and she didn’t care that a roomful of people could see her tears. Not even her father who had always told her that Fabrays  _ never _ cried, not even in the privacy of their own company. They just  _ didn’t _ .

When Puck and Quinn saw her run in and the girls finally caught sight of each other, the father-to-be wasn’t sure who was more relieved at seeing each other: Quinn, Rachel or him. After she was carried into the ambulance, Quinn had been so incredibly tense with agitation that her entire body now visibly  _ melted _ at the sight of Rachel’s face. And as soon as Rachel finally saw them, instantly rushing towards them, Puck could actually  _ feel _ Quinn straining herself to not leap out of her wheelchair and into Rachel’s arms, knowing that once she was there, she would refuse to let go.

And while relief poured out of the brunette in waves, it was also just as clear to see that Rachel was still furious with Quinn’s parents for practically pushing her out of the way after they were told to get into the van. They had spent the entire ride to the hospital, trying to convince Quinn that they were going to be there for her, no matter what. Puck doubted very much that the blonde even listened to what they said though as she was a little too preoccupied on the searing pain in her abdomen and screaming it out.

Her yelling at them to  _ shut the hell up _ was also kind of bad-ass though.

When dark brown eyes filled with anxious concern locked with hers, Quinn felt like her whole body just let out the hugest sigh of  _ staggering _ relief, her eyes followed a blurry vision of the diva making her way across the room towards them, towards  _ her _ . The blonde never took her eyes off Rachel for fear that the pain was just creating a mirage of the diva that would disappear the very second that she blinked. 

It wasn’t until Rachel reached her, taking her hand and immediately linking their fingers together; it wasn’t until she actually  _ felt _ the brunette's warm touch that the chaos inside her slowed down. She finally felt grounded. “You made it,” she whispered in awe. Despite her pain, her lips twitched up slightly when Rachel graced her with a soft smile, her heart thundering this time for the girl in front of her.

The racing pulse of her heart slowed down and the brunette was breathing heavily as she rested her other hand on top of the swollen stomach, feeling for the baby and keeping her eyes on moist hazel ones. Even in such a wrecked state, Quinn was still the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Bringing their tangled fingers up, Rachel gently kissed the back of Quinn’s hand. “There's nowhere else that I'd rather be,” she promised, leaning forward to press her forehead against Quinn’s and the world faded around them.

\---

It was more than a few hours later and the room was quiet when Puck walked into Quinn’s semi-private hospital room, not an unsettling quiet but peaceful and frankly, after the day that they just had, peace was most definitely a welcomed setting. He just came back from the nursery, from seeing his newborn  _ daughter _ and he was filled with so many emotions that he wasn’t sure what to do with them. He was sure that Rachel would tell him to sing it out and for once, he actually thought it was an awesomely appropriate idea. 

Nothing could ever be more kickass than that first moment his dark (and most definitely, no matter what anybody said,  _ not _ teary) hazel eyes met his baby girl’s dusty blue ones. When she was first given to him to hold, he felt that tug in his chest, the same one he felt from the first moment he knew that Quinn was carrying a girl, to when he first felt her kicks against his hand, to her first cries as she entered the world, and he just  _ knew _ that he had surrendered his whole heart, his whole  _ life _ , to the little girl in his arms. She was now and forever will be his number one girl.

He noticed then, the scene that he had walked in on: Quinn in bed, slightly turned to the side so that she faced Rachel; their fingers interlocked and tired smiles on their faces as they talked quietly between themselves. It looked private,  _ intimate _ , a moment that only belonged to them and he couldn’t help but envy it. He couldn’t help but envy that Quinn got to share this beautiful day with somebody she loved. 

But then he saw Quinn smiling at him, beckoning him to come inside with a slight tilt of her head, and he felt that very same tug in his chest that pulled just a little bit harder when he saw the same smile on Rachel’s face and he realized that he  _ did _ share this beautiful day with somebody he loved. Hell, he shared it with  _ two _ somebodies that he loved. Though okay, not  _ romantically _ , but at least… he wasn’t alone anymore.

“Hey,” his voice rough in his apology, betraying his own state of exhaustion, physically and emotionally. He wouldn’t be leaving the hospital anytime soon and he would probably have to tolerate the very unaccommodating visitors' chairs for the rest of the night. He  _ couldn’t _ leave yet because his baby was here, and fact of the matter was, he'd sleep on a freaking bed of  _ nails _ just so he would have more time with her.

He would  _ always _ want more time.

Shuffling awkwardly into the room, Puck moved to stand just beside the seated brunette and he got a much better view of Quinn. The exhaustion on her face matched exactly the way that he felt, if not more so, and along with the smile drawn on her lips, there was this soft hue to her hazel eyes, softer than he had ever seen them to be. He had only seen them look like that when she stared at Rachel or when she talked about or to the baby. 

Maybe there were moments during the past few months when he  _ thought _ she was looking at him like that but whenever he tried to make sure, she always managed to elude him somehow. But now he had to fight to catch his breath when he realized that he was seeing it right now, and it was most definitely directed to  _ him _ .

It wasn’t love, he knew that, nowhere near like the love that she felt for Rachel or for their baby, but it was a  _ degree _ of affection, small as it might be, that she had never afforded to him before and he found that he waa surprised by how much it actually meant to him to know that he had it now.

Rachel saw the way that Noah stared at Quinn, saw the words that were just  _ waiting _ to be said out loud and it dawned on her that there was a conversation waiting to happen and it was one that she could not be present for. It wasn’t jealousy then but understanding that settled in her chest. She knew that it wasn’t Noah's fault, nor Quinn's; that this was just something only they needed to do. 

So the diva ran her fingers tenderly through her girlfriend's golden locks, a discerning smile pulling at her lips before she let her hand fall away to cup a pale cheek. “I'm just going to go check on the baby and then get some of my stuff from my dads so I can change into something more comfortable,” she quickly explained as she stood from her chair, answering the unasked question in hazel eyes. It was the truth anyway, considering that she had been wearing the same dress from Regionals all day now. It was going to be a long night and she might as well get comfortable while she could.

“Do you need anything?” she added, her heart clenching tightly at the way Quinn  _ leaned _ into her touch while a tired but content sigh escaped the blonde's lips.

Puck watched Quinn's hazel eyes flutter at the gentle touch on her cheek before peering up to meet the diva’s dark brown gaze as she answered with a tired, sweet smile that all she needed was Rachel, making the diva blush at her sweet reply. The Mohawked boy found himself surprisingly resisting the urge to do what he usually did when he was around the two girls and make a lewd comment. He looked down to the floor instead, instinctively knowing that this was another private moment between them; a moment when they were just taking a second to reconnect, to reaffirm  _ something _ . He doubted that it was something he would ever understand until he found for himself the very same love that they shared.

Pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth, Rachel fought down the urge to grin like a lovesick idiot because god, how did Quinn just make her melt into a puddle with just one look and so very few words? Instead, she gently swept her thumb over the smooth apple of her girlfriend's cheek before leaning down to press her lips to the blonde's forehead. “I'll be back soon,” she promised, reassuring her that she wouldn’t be far, that she wasn’t  _ leaving _ her though there was still a reluctance that leadened her feet from actually moving out of Noah's way and out of the room. 

It was a reluctance brought on by the fact that she knew that Quinn's parents were still in the hospital, waiting to have a moment alone with their daughter, and Rachel really just wanted to be there for Quinn when that happened. Her girlfriend was in no condition to handle a confrontation with Russell and Judy just yet.

When the tiny brunette turned to look at him, Puck did his best to maintain her intense gaze. He swallowed thickly at the emotions that burned bright in her dark brown eyes, the warning that told- no,  _ warned _ , that he didn’t do or say anything that would hurt her girl and that he'd  _ better _ look after Quinn while she was gone. Puck tried to convey his gratitude and his submission to her precaution, knowing that Rachel would rather give up a solo before she'd ever leave Quinn's side but was doing it anyway because she knew that he wanted to do this. That he  _ needed _ to do this.

Two pairs of hazel eyes quietly watched the diva finally walk out of the room before turning back around to collide with each other's gaze. A look exchanged between them before Puck went to take Rachel's previous position by Quinn's, wiping his slightly sweaty palms over his black trousers once he sat down. He opted to lean forward in his seat instead of resting back because this wasn’t going to be a relaxing conversation at all. 

He was filled with a kind of tension that he had been carrying for awhile now. There were just so many things he had been wanting -  _ dying _ \- to say to Quinn ever since she allowed him the chance to be there with her for the pregnancy but he really wasn’t sure how or  _ where _ to begin.

“You were great in there,” he blurted out without warning and all his words came out in a rush, clumsily stumbling over each other. “Earlier, I mean, y'know, with the baby- delivering it-” And then suddenly he stopped when he noticed the crooked smile on Quinn's face, her perfect white teeth biting down on her lip, obviously keeping herself from giggling at the fact that he was on the verge of making a complete  _ ass _ of himself, practically stuttering all over the place. Puck took a deep breath into his lungs, his shoulders slumping down when he exhaled, mentally blaming his less than badass delivery on his exhaustion.

The former pregnant blonde watched the father of her baby mentally struggle with the words in his head. She had had such a low opinion of him. Not that he tried so hard to disprove them before, when he was still chasing girls and 'cougars', avoiding going to classes and being a downright school bully. And added to that, the time that she  _ did _ try to give him a chance, he ended up screwing it up by sexting Santana. But now, in a weird way, he kind of represented to her a symbol of hope that people really could change, whether by their own willing or when given the chance. Or both.

“Thanks Puck.”

Puck stopped his mental self-flagellation and looked up in surprise at the blonde. Her smile was so heart-wrenchingly sincere and he thought to himself how much different she was from the Quinn he had always known. His words finally came easily and he shook his head because if anything,  _ he _ was the one who should be saying that to her, and he did so as he pushed himself to sit closer to her, his knees reaching just under the railing of her hospital bed. “Thank  _ you _ , for letting me be there for you both.” 

He understood the confusion that took over her face but he didn’t let it stop him. “I just- I know you were angry with me because I told you to trust me and I totally violated that trust. And then you gave me chance after chance to make it up to you but I- I screwed it  _ all _ up-”

Realization quickly dawned on her and Quinn was fast to shake her head, stopping him in his tracks. She sat up, meeting the Mohawked boy's gaze head on. “Puck, I’m not going to tell you that what you did was okay because it really wasn’t. And yeah, you screwed up a lot of chances but you have since been doing your best to make it up to me. I can see that and that’s what counts.”

It was a conversation they should have had way before this day arrived but Quinn understood why they never did so. It was for the very same reason she avoided telling the truth, about her pregnancy, about the who the father actually was. Between them both, there was just so much pride and reputation at stake that neither wanted to venture and reach out to each other when they should have the most. But now, all their walls were down and it was all because of one little baby girl that they had created together. Puck let out a tired sigh, nodding his head in reluctant acceptance of her assuring words. It might not have seemed like it but he had been carrying that guilt inside him for so long, he wasn’t even sure what to do now.

“Have you thought about what you want to do yet?” 

Quinn didn’t even attempt to shake her head or do anything except to lay her head back down on her pillow. Her hazel eyes lifted to stare at the white hospital ceiling before she closed them and the blue, blue eyes of her baby girl flashed bright and vivid in her mind. “Yes, and no,” she sighed softly.

Puck nodded slowly, understandingly. Though he knew what his decision would ultimately be, it really came down to what Quinn decided. And whatever decision she eventually came to, he was just glad that he was getting at least one full night to be with his daughter. He reached out his hand to take hold of Quinn's, gently squeezing it to say that he felt her struggle too and his heart fluttered when she didn’t pull away, letting him give her the comfort that she is giving to him. He thought back to a few months ago when he would have given  _ anything _ for her to be this receptive to him and his touch.

But he didn’t know this Quinn though, not very well anyway. The Quinn that he knew and fell in love with was Head Cheerio Quinn,  _ Finn's _ Quinn. She was the bitchy, manipulative girl with a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder, who didn't want  _ anything _ to do with him, the girl he tried  _ so _ hard to prove to over and over again, that he  _ wasn’t _ a Lima Loser.  But he realized now that it wasn't the  _ real _ Quinn. Because the real Quinn? She was  _ Rachel’s _ Quinn. She was the girl that got flustered and blushed like nobody's business when Rachel just  _ barely _ glanced her way; the girl that asked him to help her serenade the girl she loved more than life itself; and she was the girl who was totally and completely whipped by one Rachel Berry.  

She also happened to be his baby girl’s Quinn though, and when she felt her hand squeezing his back in return, he knew that it was  _ only _ because of that, that she was his Quinn too.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took a very long time but the election happened and then some other really big things happened that really zapped any desire I had to write. Like, I literally had the one scene left to write but I just couldn't do it. I'm still very adamant about finishing this though. The next chapter is the very last one so I'm going to work on it for the next week and fingers crossed, I will have it posted by then. I hope you all had a good new years. Mine was filled with a lot of tears but that ended up being a really good thing. 
> 
> I wanted to post this as soon as I was done with the scene so there might be some mistakes. Please let me know so I can fix them later on, :).

Rachel was lazily tracing the lines on Quinn's upturned palm, her head resting on her arm as her eyes lazily followed her finger slowly sliding across pale skin.

She had come back to the room after seeing the baby, and the blonde was already sleeping peacefully while Noah had taken to occupy the chair beside the bed. Quinn was asleep to the world and Noah was silently watching over her, with a protective gleam in his eyes. Rachel had seen that very same look when they went out for that one week and it had also been towards Quinn. It was for that very reason that led her to break up with him. She had wanted somebody to look at her like that, like she was somebody so precious to that other person that they just couldn’t bear to take their eyes off her.

Her gaze traveled over to the former cheerleader’s prone form. Rachel thought that it might take some time to get used to the fact that there was no longer another life residing in Quinn’s body but her own, and she wondered not for the first time, how her girlfriend must be feeling about that.

Did she feel a little empty now that she wasn’t going to feel those kicks that had kept them so captivated over the past few months? Did she feel relieved that it was all over and that she would eventually be able to get back to her life as it was before her pregnancy? What were her plans now that it was over? Did she plan to go back to the Cheerios once she was able?

Was she keeping the baby?

But even with all the questions swirling around in her head, Rachel knew that they would have to wait until she was certain Quinn was ready to answer them. There were much more pressing matters to handle. Rachel might not have been the one to carry her but she still felt a gut-wrenching painful ache in her chest when she thought about the possibility of saying goodbye. She couldn’t imagine what Quinn and Noah must be feeling.

She replayed the labour in her mind; the screams of agony wrenching so painfully out of Quinn's throat still rang clearly in her ears as if it was happening right now and her heart shattered all over again at the memory of tears streaming down the blonde's pale cheeks. Though there were some lighter moments when Quinn had screamed at Noah, claiming that she hated him over and over again with a mean glare that Rachel hadn’t seen since the days that Quinn was a Cheerio. Rachel had to fight the urge to laugh at Noah's face when her girlfriend actually threatened his manhood and he immediately brought his hands down to protect himself.

But still, for every second in that delivery room, she had wished so much that she could take Quinn’s pain away, that she could be the one to carry the pain for the blonde. Her heart felt tight in her chest, constricting even more with every anticipating second until the baby’s wailing cries finally broke through, making everybody else in the room fall silent.

Or at least, it  _ felt _ silent.

Rachel wasn’t sure how to truly describe that specific moment. It felt like they had all been put on mute and everything was in slow motion, holding in a collective breath, waiting patiently until the doctor finally placed the baby in Quinn's arms and then it all came rushing back. The sounds, the precise movements.  _ Everything _ . But they weren't important at all, not as important as the little bundle that had finally stopped wailing as soon as Quinn held her, and even with tired eyes and damp hair sticking to her cheeks, Rachel swore that she had never seen anything more beautiful than the beaming smile on Quinn's face.

Neither the birth parents were willing to give her a name. With no solid of what they were going to do yet, they didn’t want to get attached. Even though they all knew that it was too late for that concern. They had been attached for a very long time now. And Rachel knew that despite her words, Quinn had already picked out a name for the baby a very long time ago and it made her heart ache even more for her girlfriend stuck in her indecision.

She looked up when she felt a slight stirring coming from the girl in the bed, realizing that she must be waking up from her rest. Rachel lifted her head off her arm, looking over at Quinn and brushing away the flyaway strands of golden hair away from her beautiful face. She felt a soft smile tugging at her lips as she waited for fluttering hazel eyes to finally meet hers and her heart gave a little squeeze when it hit her once again that this breathtakingly gorgeous girl was hers. Honestly, Rachel doubted that it was something she was ever going to get over.

“Hey you,” she whispered shyly, pressing her palm to the blonde’s pale cheek. She gently took Quinn’s hand, softly kissing the back of it. Quinn squeezed their hands together. 

She let out a quiet yawn before settling with a tired smile on her lips and nuzzling her cheek into the Rachel's hand on her face. “Where is everybody?” she asked sleepily as she tried to sit up in her bed, allowing her girlfriend enough room to arrange the pillows behind her just so she didn’t have to let go of Rachel's hand just yet. 

She still felt the need to sleep tugging at her, her body wanting to recuperate, and though the doctor had already told her about this, had told her that it was okay, Quinn didn’t really like having to sleep in for so long when she knew that there were so many other things that required her attention.

Fluffing the last pillow before gently guiding Quinn backwards to rest against it, Rachel say back down while taking both of Quinn’s hands in hers. “They’ve all gone back to the hotel for the night,” she said, staring into drowsy hazel eyes as her thumb glided over smooth pale skin. She slowly grinned when Quinn’s thumb quickly caught hers resulting in an impromptu thumb war. 

It had taken a little bit of persuading from Rachel and her parents to get the rest of the club and Mr. Schuester to leave so that they could rest up at the hotel. It had taken seeing Brittany and Tina practically falling off their chairs while trying not to succumb to sleep, that they all agreed and promised they would be back early in the morning to see Quinn. “My parents are still in the waiting room though. And so are yours,” she added, hesitant and unsure as to how Quinn would react to knowing that Russell and Judy had actually managed to weather through the last few hours and had gone nowhere but the cafeteria or the restroom when it was necessary. They did however, spend the majority of the time, since they had been kept away from Quinn's side, glaring coldly at everybody that tried to approach them. Especially Rachel’s parents.

The hope that she felt pushed fast through any desire, any urge, to deny the warmth that surges inside her at knowing her parents hadn’t left. Hadn’t left her. That they were  _ still _ here, somewhere in the very same hospital as she waa. It was unexpected but it was there, making its presence known and felt. But then she remembered herself, remembered the situation that they were all in and she reeled her hope back in, pushed her thoughts of reconciliation to the recesses of her mind. She looked up to see warm brown eyes gazing affectionately at her, like they knew exactly where exactly her feelings had taken her. 

Rachel squeezed the blonde’s hands gently, tenderly. “Quinn, no matter what happens with your parents, you're never going to be alone, okay? You'll  _ always _ have me and my dads. Noah, Brittany and Santana too. And your baby, she’s always going to be a part of you, you know that, right? Whatever you decide to do, we are  _ all _ here for you.”

She swallowed thickly at the earnest sincerity of Rachel’s words, the truth in her dark eyes. Of course she already knew all this already but when Rachel reminded her as she just did, Quinn felt breathless from all the love and care that all these people felt for her. The fact that they were willing to be there for her no matter what. And she knew all this good fortune came because of Rachel. “Has anybody ever told you that you’re kind of perfect?”

“Nope, but I have been told that I talk too much and that I might just be a little bit bossy.” Despite her teasing words, the blush in Rachel’s cheeks were very apparent and  _ very _ adorable. The blonde’s lazy and crooked smile was just so  _ incredibly _ charming and the look in her hazel eyes increased the relentless in her chest.

“I couldn’t have done this without you, y’know.”

The brunette shook her head. “I think you could have. You’re a strong person, Quinn. You’re strong for having gone through so much of this alone for those first few months. You have  _ no _ idea how much I admire you for your tenacity to just keep going. I only held your hand and gave you a shoulder to cry on when you needed it.  _ You’re _ the one that did it all. Nobody else. You.”

A blistering heat settled in her cheeks at the intensity in Rachel’s brown eyes. And for a short moment, Quinn felt undeserving of this, of Rachel’s unwavering faith in her despite the past that they shared. She would always be so grateful for the day that Rachel found her in the auditorium. “I’m really happy that you were the hand that I held onto, Rach.”

“Always,” she replied without hesitation. Rachel smiled shyly before leaning down to capture Quinn’s soft lips with her own, sighing at the tender contact between them. She pulled away before they could deepen it, knowing how kate it was and that Quinn needed to sleep. “Get some rest, sweetheart. It’ll be a brand new day soon.”

\---

Her heart was racing, anxious because she knew that what she had just said wasn’t what her parents expected her to say. She knew that they expected her to instantly fall into their waiting arms and that she would look at them with starry, grateful eyes, like they were  _ rescuing _ her or something to that effect. But this was obviously  _ not _ the case and most definitely  _ not _ what they had planned. It was evident in the way from the split of a second when their jaws slackened and their eyes widened in disbelief, as if whole worlds were crashing and burning right in front of them; and as soon as that split second ended, their smiles froze. This was their form of outrage. Fabrays weren’t people who yelled and screamed when they were angry or frustrated. Not at first. And certainly not in public. They were the quiet storms, the ones that creeped up quietly on you, and then, without warning, you would find yourself swept up in its whirlwind path with venom-filled words disguised behind calm, steady tones; spitting you out faster than you could even blink.

On paper, Russell Fabray wasn't a horrible man. By society standards, it could even be said that he was a  _ good _ man. He worked hard to put food on the table, to clothe and to shelter his family. He made sure to go to church every Sunday. He  _ was _ a good man. And he was certain that he did his best for his daughters, that he had raised them well, and taught them to distinguish what was right from what was wrong, similar to the way that he was taught by his father. But at this very moment, he was overcome with that all-too familiar feeling of being unable to reconcile the girl in front of him with the daughter that he thought he knew. It was really like he just didn’t know her at all. He remembered feeling something like this once, when he and Judy first found out about the pregnancy and Quinn stood in front of him, her beautiful angelic face, that would always remind him so much of Judy when she had been Quinn’s age, stained with tears. He was self-aware enough to recognize it as the reaction to the lack of control that he thought he would always have over her.

After all, it used to be  _ his _ approval that she looked for every single time she accomplished anything. Like when she first came back from school and announced that she had been made Head Cheerio, the youngest to ever be made head cheerleader. Every time she walked through the front door of their home, excited to show him her latest achievements, he had been so proud. He was always so proud of her.  _ Always _ .

It wasn’t an unusual thing to hear from Judy that Quinn was his favourite. Of course, Frances was a Fabray through and through. He could not be more proud of the way she single-handedly ruled over everything in her life with the same iron-clad control that he did. She was exactly like him. He did love both girls equally; he just paid a little bit more attention to his youngest because Quinn, she had always been so…  _ different _ . While she was growing up, it hadn’t been difficult to see that the person she was becoming was this peculiar mix of Judy and himself that sometimes it seemed like she had two different personalities. She had Judy’s softness and she had Russell’s hard exterior. She was the little girl who led her friends everywhere she wanted them to go, making absolute sure they followed her like sheep, that they never strayed out of the line that she had drawn herself; just as she was the same little girl that smiled the biggest when she danced, when she was given a new book to read, the one that could never sleep without her precious little stuffed lamb tucked safely in her arms.

But she was still his daughter and when it came down to it, he was still her ‘daddy’. He had been so certain that all that…  _ weakness _ would have eventually faded away, that her true Fabray nature would eventually win out. Nine months ago, it seemed that it would. It looked like Quinn was well on her way in following her sister's footsteps to greatness. But he had been sorely mistaken. And now as his blue eyes slowly took in his daughter’s glowing appearance, he couldn’t help but wonder: Where the  _ hell _ did he go wrong? 

“Excuse me?”

The younger blonde mindfully chose to ignore the subtle sneer on her father's lips that made her glad that Rachel was nowhere near her hospital room, remembering very well his opinion on the Berry family. Though she had seen her parents talking cordially to Rachel's parents after their Invitationals, the embarrassing way that her mother just gushed over Rachel's voice; Quinn knew better. While her father appeared comfortable and happy enough to discuss politics and whatever else with Rachel's Dad, she thought of the drive home, and of the condescending way that he spoke of them. It didn't surprise her though, as this was the way that Russell treated others. He was outwardly charming and overtly affable but behind closed doors, the mask came off and the truth came out; and none of it was at all pretty.

Quinn swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. “I’m not moving back home. And I'm in love with Rachel Berry.” She repeated the words again inside her head and in her heart, and she knew more than anything that she had never said truer words than this. And she just absolutely hated that her parents were the first to actually hear her say it, rather than the person that  _ deserved _ to hear it. She hated even more that she felt a bare wisp of shame trying to dig its way inside her at her father’s disappointed face and Quinn lamented that her innate need to seek for his approval would never truly disappear. She switched her gaze over to her mother who had been quiet since they came in the room, which wasn’t really out of character for her. Judy Fabray had always been flawless to her youngest daughter, had always looked much younger than she actually was, but now she looked her age, or maybe even older. Her mother’s face was thoughtful in expression but for the life of her, Quinn couldn’t tell what those thoughts were.

Moments passed in a painfully quiet fashion until Judy broke the silence, soft and unsure. “Does she know- about your… feelings?”

Quinn took a breath and another as she looked at her mother, trying to figure her out and guess her intentions in asking that question. And as she did so, her mind wandered to the past few weeks, of moments when she felt  _ thisclose _ to telling Rachel how she felt, of how her life was so much brighter with her in it, of how she wanted Rachel to always be a part of it. Quinn wasn’t sure about a lot of things but she felt this love deep in her chest and if it was the only thing she would ever know, the only thing she would ever feel, then that was all she needed. And she thought of how Rachel looked at her in those moments, with that discerning shine in her dark brown eyes and that fond, patient smile and she knew that the brunette would always wait until she was ready to tell her. And so she shook her head. “I haven’t told her yet but I’m sure that she knows.”

“So what, you're one of  _ them _ now?”

Her father’s voice rudely broke her out of her thoughts of Rachel and her reply escaped her lips before she could stop herself. “Why does it matter?”

Russell let out this mixed sound between a scoff and disgust as he shook his head and rolled his eyes at his youngest daughter. “Don’t be  _ naive _ , Quinn. In this world, it  _ always _ matters.”

“But the world isn't asking me right now, is it?  _ You _ are. And I'm asking  _ you _ , why? Why does it matter so much, to you?” she argued. Quinn felt that threatening heat in her cheeks, a small part of her feeling incredibly guilty for talking back to her father in the manner that he used to punish her for, and another part incredibly angry at him for his dismissiveness. She was worried that she was losing control as her eyes began to water and so Quinn breathed in deeply, focusing on not letting her father see what this was doing to her. She knew that the first instant one tear fell, he would sneer this time at her weakness for showing how she felt in front of him once again.

“Look, honey, we were just about willing to accept the fact that you’re friends with that girl and now you’re telling us that you’re not just friends but you’re- having  _ relations _ with her?”

Quinn felt the warmth of her mother’s hand folding over her own cold hand as she spoke and she looked up to meet Judy’s blue eyes, so full of love and pity all at the same time. She hated it and felt almost  _ ashamed _ by it. The younger woman tried to subtly pull her hand away, refusing to accept her mother’s condescension. “I know that it’s a little hard to swallow-”

Her father interrupted abruptly and sputtered at her words. “A  _ little _ hard to swallow?” he repeated, the incredulity that he felt showing so painfully clear on his face and in his voice. He felt like laughing and yelling simultaneously that he was sure he was going mad. He looked up to the ceiling, mumbled a prayer for strength before lowering his stars to meet Quinn’s hazel-green eyes. “Finding out your  _ sixteen year-old _ daughter is pregnant, is a  _ little _ hard to swallow. Finding out that the  _ baby _ she's carrying isn't even her  _ boyfriend's _ but that hooligan with the most  _ moronic _ haircut I've ever seen, is a  _ little _ hard to swallow. But  _ this _ ? This is  _ unacceptable _ and I will  _ not _ tolerate it under  _ my _ roof.”

She wished that she could say that she was surprised by Russell’s anger-fueled tirade but Quinn knew better than to expect her father reacting anything close to well to this news. She realized that she had somehow forgotten what it meant to feel hopeless. “There isn't anything you can say or do that is going to change how I feel or who I am.” 

\---

Finn found himself outside the nursery, pacing from the door to the exit and back again, stopping in tandem to look through the window only to resume his pacing once more. He hadn’t seen Quinn or Rachel since they left in a hurry to the hospital yesterday, with the Glee club following very quickly behind. There was no point in staying since the results of the competition had already been announced. They could mourn the loss of the club after Quinn gave birth.

The Glee co-captain recalled the tension that had been in the room while they waited for news of Quinn and the baby.  _ Any _ news, for that matter. He remembered getting a little cross-eyed from watching the way that Artie’s wheels were spinning back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. He thought about the way that everybody just gravitated to each other, huddling together, sharing similar concerns and worries for their friends. It was a far more excruciating wait, than when they were at the competition, when winning a trophy for Regionals seemed like the most important thing in the world. But they all learned rather quickly that in the grand scheme of things, being there for their friend while she went through what was one of the hardest thing any woman ever had to go through, was way more important than whether they got to stay together next year.

Finally, his pacing came to a stop at the door once again and he stared at the wooden revolving door as he took a deep breath. Everything went in slow motion as he breathed out and he wasn’t sure whether he was doing it on purpose or whether it was just everything around him that made him move so lethargically. He hadn’t seen her – the baby – not yet. He knew that everybody else had, thought of how Mercedes, Brittany and Tina were all cooing over how cute and adorable she was. Even the rest of the guys had seen her too and he most definitely knew that Puck had been to see her way more than anybody else had. He swallowed thickly when the sight of Puck crying in front of them after giving the baby to the nurse, flashed bright and vivid in his mind. He had never seen Puck cry before, not real crying anyway. Not even when his father left him. Finn wasn’t sure how to describe what he felt then but it  _ frightened _ him to see his best friend like that, breaking down without a care for his supposed badassness. And he felt just as helpless now as he did then, only stepping to the side when Mr. Schuester immediately stood up and took Puck in his arms, encouraging him to let go.

A part of him struggled with the reasons to why he was here, taking an opportunity to meet the little girl that he had loved, even for the briefest of times. He still loved her  _ now _ , even though he thought he could stop once he knew she wasn't his. Maybe it was for closure. Maybe it was for his peace of mind. He couldn’t really say. Finn just knew that there was something inside him that wanted –  _ needed _ – to see her, with no prying eyes to watch over him. He had made her so many promises when she was still growing in Quinn’s belly and he had already broken one when he wasn't there to be the first to greet her into the world. 

He couldn’t  _ bear _ it to break another.

The door swung open from his slight push and the sight that greeted him, hit him hard in his chest, leaving him breathless and weak in the knees. Rachel was there, sitting on a rocking chair with the baby in her arms, with a soft smile on her lips. She was talking in quiet murmurs and occasionally humming quietly to the little girl. Though his feelings for Rachel weren’t as strong as they had been before, there was still that little jolt, that little thunder of  _ something _ that made him imagine a future where Rachel was cradling a different baby -  _ their _ baby. It was merely a flash and it disappeared from his mind just as quickly as it came, but it still left behind a residue of heart-wrenching yearning inside him.

Rachel's dark brown eyes greedily drank in the breathtaking sight of whimsical, curly blonde hair and hooded blue-gray eyes that she knew would eventually turn hazel in the coming months (or so the books told her). She wasn’t sure yet whether they would be like Noah's or Quinn's but she was still more than certain that this little girl would be leaving a very long trail of broken hearts in her wake. Rachel would know. She fell in love immediately with baby Fabray-Puckerman from the very first second she held her in her arms and she felt an immediate rush of overwhelming happiness that told her that there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep this little girl safe and happy. She felt the same protective instinct that she felt during Quinn's pregnancy and now it seemed that it had only gotten stronger now that the baby was born. She wondered if this was how Quinn and Noah felt, that everything they felt the past few months, was so much intense than ever before.

Finn didn’t know where he found the strength or even the will, but he stepped forward, further inside the room than he was previously, and closer to Rachel and the baby. He didn’t understand why his palms were sweaty and his eyes burned from the salty moisture dripping down his forehead. It was stupid,  _ silly _ even, that he was nervous at all, but god, he just couldn’t help it. He still loved them both so much. “Hey Rach,” his voice quietly cracked at the whisper of her name leaving his lips. He grinned lopsidedly at her startled gaze, realizing how so completely enraptured she had been in the baby that she didn't even notice that he was in the room with her. But it was something he had gotten used to by now: Rachel’s attention completely taken away by a breathtaking blonde when it used to be so completely on him. It took him awhile but, it didn’t sting as much anymore.

Rachel visibly shook herself out of her stupor, a grin stretching across her lips. “Good morning Finn.”

“She’s beautiful,” he tried to whisper, noticing that the baby’s eyes were slowly drooping. But she heard him anyway and she frowned cutely at his intrusion. He shrugged in sheepish apology at Rachel.

The baby began to fuss when she must have realized that Rachel had stopped her gentle rocking once Finn announced his presence. He stood awkwardly at a short distance from them with his hands stuffed in his pockets. She knew him well enough that if it weren’t for the baby, he’d be drumming rhythmically on something just to fill the silence between them. His brown eyes failed to disguise his curiosity about the little girl in her arms. Rachel slowly got up from her seat. “Would you like to hold her?”

Finn immediately backed away, a panicked feeling in his chest as he raised his hands and shook his head. His eyes were on the baby and Rachel’s arms holding her so confidently. “Oh no I- I don't know if I can. She's so small. I- I don’t want to drop her,” he stammered, his brown eyes widening when Rachel passed the baby to him and his arms automatically locked in place to hold her. He looked down to the little bundle in his arms, the little head of blonde curls laying in his hand.

“As long as you keep your hand supporting her head like that and you're good to go.” She manoeuvred Finn’s arms until they were felt sure and secure holding the little girl and she gently guided him to pull the baby closer to his chest. Rachel smiled when the baby seemed to lean into his warmth. “See, she likes you. She's not crying or anything.” Rachel watched as Finn carefully held the baby in his arms, his brown eyes filled with so much awe that it made her smile brightly. He seemed to be memorizing as much of her that he could, as if he was never going go see her again. And Rachel understood it, this  _ need _ , especially since they still had no idea what Quinn and Noah wanted to do. They didn’t want to take this time for granted. She looked up to realize that he had been staring down at her and she tilted her head in question.

He shook his head, trying to dismiss his feelings and laugh it off. But then he glanced down at the baby and Finn knew be needed to get his thoughts out because if there was anybody in the world who knew and understood him as well as his mom, it was Rachel. “It’s just, kind of funny, y’know. She’s not even mine, never  _ been _ mine. But sometimes, I kinda forget and I think about the first few months when I thought she  _ was _ mine and the idea of letting and  _ watching _ somebody else be her dad; let them watch over her, protect her and love her. Even right now, I'm looking at her and I think, 'I could have been your dad'. It’s like I’m getting punched in the stomach over and over before I can even catch a breath.” Finn paused to catch his breath, trying to swallow down the hurt that he felt. “I don’t know how they must feel about it. What can we do?”

The shorter brunette sighed. She had been worried about the exact same things too. She talked to Quinn, to Noah; she even talked to her parents. Butt the answer was the simplest one. “We just have to be there for them, Finn,” she uttered as she reached up to brush her fingers through curly blonde hair. She registered Finn quietly nodding at her words and a moment of comfortable silence between them filled the room until the baby began to yawn. Her eyes blinking open to reveal blue-gray eyes, sleepy and unfocused, peering up at Rachel or at least, it felt like she was. She and Finn shared a smile when the nursery door swung open to reveal one of her fathers, breathing heavily and looking like he had just run a marathon. His blue eyes were wide with concern and so much worry that it pulled Rachel to immediately go to him. “Papa, what is it?”

\--- 

Mal was standing outside Quinn’s room, and heard Rachel before he even saw her. The incoming sound of the pads of her shoes meeting linoleum was soft, almost rhythmic, but it was also fast-paced, rushed, because he knew that she was trying to get somewhere important, to  _ somebody _ important. Somebody that he was well aware had become her whole world.

Malachi Berry considered himself a reasonable man; a man not ruled by his emotions. He had to be, considering his own partner was the kind of man that was. They had been together since college and everyday he always managed to find something that made him fall just a little bit more in love with him. He fell in love with Stephen Orion Berry the very moment that Steve dropped coffee on his lap. After all, having a tall, handsome blue-eyed stranger getting embarrassingly flustered and trying to dab away the hot coffee from your trousers was a great beginning to an amazing love story.

It wasn't an easy road to get to where they were now, happy, financially comfortable and with a beautiful daughter, Rachel, who was strong-willed, fiercely independent and divinely talented. As a baby, she took his breath away and he knew that when she came of age, she would be leaving a trail of broken hearts. He wasn't being biased; he was just being her Dad. Despite the fact that he and Steve repeatedly stressed to Rachel that it was more than okay if she fell in love with a girl, Mal didn't really prepare for that. From the day she was born, Mal had recently realized that he had only ever prepared himself for the day that another  _ man _ would come along and take her away from him. It was the reasonable thing to do. And it was also reasonable that he would think that it'd be a man as Rachel grew up only ever talking about princes sweeping her off her feet. There were never any mentions of princesses whatsoever.

He supposed that it was his old-fashioned upbringing. It always seemed to surprise people when they met him, just how staunch he could be about certain things. It was a hard habit that Steve tried almost daily to break him out of, but there were just some things that Mal had a hard time breaking. But it didn’t matter what he thought or felt. It wasn’t his life nor was it Steve’s. All that was important, was that he loved his Rachel, and he loved her Quinn almost as much. There was nothing they could do to ever change that. 

She thought of the day before, of how she was repeating this very same moment where she was running towards the same goal; running so that she could get to Quinn. Rachel couldn’t really think of another time when she had moved so fast, when she couldn’t stop to pause or think for even a single moment until she got to Quinn. The petite diva paid no mind to the people that she passed by, the nurses, the doctors, her friends, not even her Dad. It was like her whole body knew she needed to be there for Quinn and her legs moved of their own accord, fast and unstoppable.

So unstoppable that she pretty much crashed right into her Dad whose fast reflexes saved them from falling right to the floor. “Whoa there, sweetheart. I know we’re in a hospital-” he started to joke but stopped at the hurried look in her panicked brown eyes.

Rachel was panting heavily, doing her best to catch her breath. Her heart was beating fast and she almost wished she had stopped for at least a bottle of water.“I’m sorry, Dad. It’s just Quinn- she-”

He only gave her an understanding smile, gently bringing her into his arms, wanting to offer whatever comfort and strength that she seemed to desperately need. “I know, honey. But she’s not going anywhere.” He breathed deeply as she melted into his embrace and he swayed them a little, hoping that it would lull her to eventually calm down. Quinn needed her to be steady and so he held on until he felt her heartbeat slow down and she was breathing deeply against him. 

“How do you know?”

Her fear of losing Quinn, of Quinn leaving with her parents was one fear Rachel didn’t need to tell him for him to know. He knew the fear well. He gazed down into her scared eyes and he thought of those late nights when Rachel was little and she would frantically knock on their bedroom door with the same fear in her eyes. Back then it was monsters under her bed. But this was a bigger monster that he knew he couldn’t slay for her. He could only stand by and support her as best as he could. He reached down to brush his fingers comfortingly through her hair, and he hummed quietly as her eyes closed to the touch. Malachi Berry waited until his daughter’s eyes opened to meet his gaze once again and he smiled gently at her. “Where else do you think you get your sixth sense from?”

Even though she was calmer now, her lungs still burned and her legs ached as her dad swiftly turned her around to face the hospital room door. On the other side was a girl she cared for more than anything in the world, and she was waiting for Rachel to be by her side. She knocked once, twice before she poked her head in to find Quinn sitting by the window, gazing out to the bright day outside the hospital. Rachel looked around the room, wondering where Russell and Judy Fabray were.

“They left,” Quinn said softly, apparently already aware of Rachel’s presence and answering the question before she could even ask. She stood up from her chair, going to sit on the edge of her bed and feeling Rachel’s gaze following her. the brunette walked in, heading to stand in front of her. She looked up into curious brown eyes. “I told them about you and they -  _ he _ couldn't handle it. So, they left.”

_ "I've had enough of this. Judy, we’re leaving.” _

_ Judy’s face bore a look of shock and utter dismay at his words. It was obvious that she had been expecting them to actually bring Quinn home. But instead she was watching her husband swiftly making his way to the door and consequently leaving their youngest daughter behind. “What? But Russ-  _ Russell! _ ” _

_ His face was red and contorted in anger when he swung around to snap at his wife. “ _ Don't _ give me that look. I gave you your chance to try and get her to come home last time, and look what happened once we left her. She lost her way and she seems adamant that she doesn't want to be found. At least, not by us.” _

_ “I’m sorry, daddy.” Tears were welling in her eyes and she knew that they were going to fall soon. She could only hope that he would be gone before it happened. She didn’t want to give him seeing her cry over this, despite the sadness and the pain that tore and crashed and burned inside her. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. _

_ “ _ Don’t _ call me that,” he spat out, turning to glare icily at the younger blonde, making her shrink back in her position. “Only my  _ daughter _ gets to call me that. You’re not my daughter. My daughter was  _ perfect _. She went to church every Sunday. She got the best grades in school. She was the head cheerleader. My  _ daughter _ did everything to make her father and her God happy. My daughter was  _ pure _. And you- You are not.” _

The brunette’s breath staggered at Quinn’s retelling of what happened between her and her parents. Her heart broke at the thought of the blonde trying to be so brave in front of them all on her own. She raised her hand to cup her girlfriend’s cheek, her thumb stroking the smooth skin. Quinn’s face was damp, as if she had been crying but immediately wiped them away. “I should have been here with you,” she whispered.

Quinn shook her head, attempting a brave smile that broke Rachel’s heart even further. “I’m glad you weren’t.”

The brunette went to sit next to Quinn. “Are you okay? she asked, cringing to herself because she knew it was a stupid question but Quinn just seemed much more put together than she expected. Rachel hoped that the blonde wasn’t retreating into herself. The worst thing to happen right now was for Quinn to distance herself from everybody, from Rachel. 

Quinn gave Rachel a comforting smile, as if she knew what her girlfriend was worried about. She grabbed Rachel’s hand on her cheek, bringing it down to sandwich the delicate tanned hand in between her own. She gave it a gentle squeeze. “I will be,” she promised. It hadn’t been very long since her parents left her room and presumably, her life, and as hurt and upset as she was, she wasn’t as sad as she thought she would be. Maybe it was because a big part of her had always known exactly how that conversation was going to go and there was nothing she could have done to change it.

“Why?”

Hazel eyes looked up to meet her girlfriend’s confused and beseeching stare. It confused her. “Why what?”

“Why did you tell them about me? About us? They would have taken you back if you hadn't said anything.”

The blonde pulled her girlfriend to lay beside her. Her back was hurting but she wanted the brunette close. They wiggled and squirmed until they found themselves in a comfortable position. Rachel was laying further up the pillow so that Quinn could rest her head on her girlfriend’s chest. The steady beat of Rachel’s heart soothed her. “If I hadn't said anything, and they took me back,” she started to explain, “even if he said that they were willing to accept you as my friend, my dad would have tried everything and  _ anything _ , to keep me from seeing you and then I'd be forced to either break up with you or keep you a secret. And neither of those sound like things I want.” 

Quinn had turned this whole situation over and over in her head, and she had talked with Rachel’s parents, with Santana’s, Brittany’s and even Kurt’s dad. She knew that acceptance was a slow process but with an open heart and mind, it was more than possible. Their friends’ parents were more than accepting, why not her own parents? She grew up with them raising her and she watched them as they were, not just who they were to her but who they were as individuals. Their hearts were narrow and their minds filled with arrogance. Maybe if her mom wasn’f with her dad, she could have had one parent left to herself but that just wasn’t how it came to be. After living with Rachel and her family, how could Quinn even think of going back to that? 

She looked up to meet Rachel’s soft brown eyes, so attentive and careful. Quinn felt it deep in her chest again. “I love you, Rachel.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the piercing honesty in the blonde’s dark hazel eyes. Rachel swallowed thickly at their intensity, the earnestness behind them. “I love you too,” she breathed, almost in awe at the way hazel eyes seemed to brighten at her admission. The brunette smiled shyly, despite the fact they both knew that this moment was coming. It was quiet and it was intimate. And it was perfect for them. 

It made her sad that Quinn’s parents had left but she, Quinn and her dads had a family meeting about it awhile ago. Her dad's were insistent and emphatic that Quinn would always have a home with them no matter and Rachel was glad that her girlfriend knew this. Rachel was almost sure that Quinn had been afraid that she wouldn’t be welcomed if her parents came for her. But Rachel’s parents were well aware who exactly Quinn’s parents were and they were adamant that Quinn knew that she always had a safe space with them, no matter what. Rachel couldn’t have been prouder of her parents. She ran her fingers carefully through blonde hair. “I could have handled it if you wanted to keep us a secret, you know? I would have _understood_ that.”

Quinn nodded. “I know, but the thing is, that place, it... it just isn't home anymore."

“But... They’re your family,” the brunette tried to say but stopped when Quinn shook her head. 

“Rach, I never knew what being part of a real family meant until I moved in with you guys.  _ You’re _ my family. You and your dads but most especially you.”

The brunette gazed into Quinn’s hazel eyes, almost like she was searching for something. But everything she needed to know was staring back at her. She lowered her head to capture Quinn’s lips between her own, soft and gentle. 

–--

She slowly stepped back, quietly closing the door while making sure that the girls remained unaware of her presence. Judy wasn’t completely sure why she decided to come back to Quinn's room. What it was that made her stop in her tracks on her way to following Russell to the elevator. Why she turned right around, ignoring her husband’s confused frown and walked back. Why she felt that need to see Quinn just once more. She already said her goodbyes, why did she do this?   


But as she watched the girls hold each other tight, the smaller brunette holding her daughter,  _ protecting _ her, she knew why. And though it made her heart ache to see somebody else doing that for Quinn, to do the job that Judy was always supposed to have done but failed so miserably, she felt at least some sort of relief that she made the right decision. 

With one last look at the girls, she thought yes. She had done the right thing.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It was close to midday, a couple of hours after her parents walked away from her when both Quinn and Rachel decided to venture out of her hospital room. They had argued over Quinn using the wheelchair, Rachel not wanting her girlfriend to exert herself while Quinn was adamant that she was more than well enough to walk on her own.
> 
> "She looks like you.""

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's been a hot minute, hasn't it?   
> I am so sorry I've been gone for so long but the supercorp fandom totally stole me away and I've been writing for them for just over a year now. But this story was never far from my thoughts and after a mutual on tumblr recently went down a faberry spiral, it inspired me to finish this. 
> 
> Yes, I do mean finish. I have finished the final chapter as well but I will be posting that in a couple of days. So I hope that will make up for my absence. Also, my writing style has changed so much since I first started this story but I did my best to keep the style consistent. I hope I did okay on that but I do apologize if it feels weird. 
> 
> I hope you all have been well. This is the chapter that we've all been waiting for, apart from faberry getting together that is... Enjoy! <333

It was close to midday, a couple of hours after her parents walked away from her when both Quinn and Rachel decided to venture out of her hospital room. They had argued over Quinn using the wheelchair, Rachel not wanting her girlfriend to exert herself while Quinn was adamant that she was more than well enough to walk on her own.

"She looks like you."

The blonde sighed at her girlfriend’s whispered words, her heart fluttering at the quiet awe in Rachel’s voice. They stood side by side, in front of the glass window looking into the nursery. The wheelchair was next to Rachel, a compromise between them that while Quinn could walk to the nursery, she would be sitting in the chair on the way back. "I don't know. I think that's Puck's nose more than mine," she joked as she tried to see what it was that Rachel saw, slowly taking in the baby's sleeping face. 

"Nothing wrong with that," Rachel countered teasingly, her own nose scrunching up in response. "And even so, I’m pretty sure she's got your eyes."

A faint pink tainted Quinn's cheeks at the loving tone. She looked beside her to see Rachel looking intently at the baby, her brown eyes, soft and so  _ nakedly _ tender as she focused solely on her. "You're totally in love with her, aren't you?"

Rachel winced almost immediately then. "I'm sorry," she said, biting guiltily on her bottom lip.

Quinn frowned, confused. "Why are you sorry?"

The brunette sighed, looking down at her feet before she looked up to meet her girlfriend's hazel eyes. "Because, it just puts even  _ more _ pressure on you and that's absolutely the last thing I want to do while you're trying to make this difficult decision."

Quinn smiled softly, reassuringly as she went to take Rachel's hand and squeezed it gently. She tugged on her girlfriend's fingers, pulling her closer until she could kiss her, gentle and slow. She wondered for a second if it was inappropriate to do this while in front of so many sleeping babies so she kept the kiss short, pulling away when she felt Rachel's fingers at her side. Her smile grew a little at the faint flush in Rachel's cheeks and how her dark eyes were now trained hungrily on her lips. She waited patiently until her girlfriend's gaze moved up to meet her own. "It  _ is _ a lot of pressure, but there's always  _ been _ a lot of pressure... since the day I found out I was pregnant."

Her girlfriend nodded, seemingly accepting her words but Quinn knew that Rachel still felt a little guilty anyway. There was nothing that Quinn could do though. It wasn't like she could tell Rachel to consciously stop how she felt. Rachel had loved the baby long before she came out of Quinn. Just as Puck did. 

Just as Quinn herself did.

They were waiting for Rachel’s dads to come back and Quinn knew that she'd have to tell them of her decision then. For the longest time, she thought she knew what she wanted to do, what she  _ thought _ was best for her, the baby and even for Puck. She remembered how she had thought about giving the baby up and never seeing her again because it seemed like the only choice she  _ could _ make, the only one available to her.

And this freedom in learning and eventually accepting that it wasn’t the only choice, had left her a little more than unsure. One would think that she would be happy to have so many options and if it had been clear, maybe she would have been. But she hadn't been sure and she didn't want to make the wrong choice. How could she ever live with herself then? It was the main reason why she hadn't been able to truly commit to choosing a family to adopt the baby, always finding something wrong with them in one way or another.

But she wasn't so unsure anymore now.

"Hey ladies, got room in this love fest for me?"

Rachel giggled while her girlfriend's hazel eyes rolled at the interruption. They looked behind them to see Puck, dressed in fresh clothes and a smirk on his face. In his hand was a paper bag from the fast food place not too far away from the hospital. Quinn's eyes immediately zeroed in on the bag. "Depends. Are the burger and fries for me?"

Puck frowned, his mouth opening to argue only to clamp shut when the blonde's eyes narrowed into a scary glare. "Yes, yes they are totally for you," he quickly surrendered, reluctantly holding the bag out for Quinn. He pouted then when she only grinned in triumph and grabbed the bag from his grasp. He stared forlornly as she happily munched on his fries.

Rachel elbowed the blonde, an admonishing look on her face as she gestured towards Puck. She only smiled proudly when the blonde sighed and deigned to share the fries with Puck. This was how Rachel’s parents found them, having previously guessed where they would be when they found Quinn’s hospital room empty.

“Hey kids,” Steve greeted, a happy grin on his face as he went to hug the blonde. “Glad to see you on your feet, sweetheart,” he uttered as he placed a kiss on her forehead before moving on to hug Rachel.

Rachel was pulling away from her Dad’s arms when she glanced over at her Papa’s face, a smile on his lips as well but one that didn’t reach his eyes. She knew exactly what that look meant, having seen it often enough and she felt nervous at what was going to come. “Family meeting, Papa?”

He nodded solemnly.

\--

Later in the day, when Steve and Malachi entered Quinn’s hospital room, they found the girls inside. The blonde was laying back on her bed while Rachel was packing the greeting cards and gifts that Quinn had gotten from their fellow Glee clubbers, Mr. Schuester and Ms Pillsbury. The brunette had apparently thought ahead and packed an extra duffle in the bag they brought with them. “You two ready to go home?”

“I’m almost done packing everything, Papa,” Rachel answered as she stuffed a bright yellow card that Brittany made herself back into its envelope. She grinned absently at the cute little purple unicorn that had been drawn in the little corner of the card.

“Rachel won’t let me help,” Quinn whined, crossing her arms as she pouted playfully.

The brunette laughed as she rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s childish display. “Quinn, you had a  _ really _ big day yesterday, so you stay on that bed and keep your feet up, young lady,” she demanded, pointing her finger at the blonde to show her that she meant it.

“So bossy,” she teased.

“And yet, you still love me,” Rachel pointed out cheekily, flinging a plush teddy bear in the blonde’s direction.

Steve rolled his eyes as Mal chuckled heartily, a stark difference from the mood earlier in the day. Mal went to pick up both bags once he saw that Rachel finished zipping them up. “Is there anything you want us to pick up on the way home? Or stop by somewhere when we leave?”

The blonde shook her head, smiling shyly. “No, I would just like to go home and rest in my own bed, if that's okay.”

“Of course it is, honey.” Steve gave her an affectionate smile, one that she felt looked almost exactly like how he smiled at Rachel. Quinn swallowed thickly at the emotions blooming in her chest. “We’re really happy that you’re coming home with us, Quinn,” he added, lifting the strap of one of the duffle bags that Mal was carrying, to lay it over his shoulder.

“Everything's all set?” Mal asked, looking around the room to make sure that they had everything. The other three occupants of the room did the same, confirming that everything was indeed all set. “Alright then, we’ll bring the bags down to the car and you girls can meet us at the pick-up point.”

Both men have gone by the time Rachel walked over to the hospital bed where Quinn was sitting up now. She pressed a gentle kiss to the blonde’s forehead, a tender smile on her lips. “Ready?”

Quinn swung her legs over the side of the bed, slipping her feet into her shoes. “I think so,” she replied with an uncertain expression on her face.

The brunette reached over to grab Quinn’s hand, intertwining their fingers to give them a reassuring squeeze. She then walked out of the room for barely a second before coming back in, pushing a wheelchair through the doorway. “Take a seat, sweetheart.”

Quinn frowned in distaste immediately, a fierce glare on her face at the sight of the wheelchair next to Rachel. “Do I really have to be in  _ that _ ?”

“Hospital policy, Quinn.” Rachel did her best to keep herself from reacting to the adorable pout on her girlfriend’s face.

The blonde eventually sighed in defeat, knowing there was no point in arguing with Rachel about this. Especially since the last time they argued about this very thing took up too much time. And she knew her girlfriend well. One look at the determined set to her lips, Quinn knew that Rachel would be more than willing to revisit the same arguments she used earlier today. Always so freaking stubborn. “ _ Fine _ , but only because you’re so goddamn cute,” she muttered.

Rachel rewarded the blonde with an impossibly bright smile that made Quinn almost stumble. She pushed the wheelchair closer to Quinn when she saw the blonde making her way to the bassinet beside the bed. “Here, you take a seat and I’ll bring her to you,” she gently prodded before locking the wheels to make sure it wouldn’t move while Quinn sat down.

The brunette turned to the bassinet and she smiled softly at the blue eyes that stared sleepily up at her. “Hi baby girl, are you ready to go home too?”

\--

_ They were walking back to Quinn's room, the blonde pouting begrudgingly to herself at having to be wheeled inside instead of walking back herself. She might have agreed to it but that didn't mean she was going to be happy about it. _

_ “Noah, where are you going?” _

_ Both Rachel’s parents and Quinn looked to where the mohawked boy was standing still in the doorway, his hand stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. His posture told them that he was about ready to leave and his green eyes had widened, a faint blush on his cheeks when Rachel had called out to him. “Oh you said, ‘ _ family _ meeting’, so I thought-” _

_ Rachel’s confused frown softened and her dark brown eyes rolled with affection as she smiled gently at him. She walked over to take the boy’s hand, giving it a squeeze before she pulled him inside the room and not at all paying notice to the expression on his face, so filled with awe. “You’re family too, dummy.” _

_ The room was silent as Rachel led Puck by the hand to one of the chairs until a loud sniffle echoed and they all turned to the source. Quinn was sitting back on the bed at this point and her eyes were filled tears and her lips were trembling from the emotions she was apparently feeling. “I’m sorry, the doctor warned us that this was going to happen for a little while.” She had seen the look on Puck’s face, understood exactly what he was feeling. Understood what it meant to him to be thought of and accepted so easily as family by people who weren’t his blood. Understood that the feeling would have been compounded by the fact that Steve and Mal had so freely smiled at him, as if they completely agreed with Rachel. _

_ Silence filled the room, each person waiting for somebody else to be the first to say something as they weren’t at all sure how to really begin this family meeting. Rachel didn’t think it was her place to lead this conversation because she knew that despite it being a family meeting, it didn’t really concern her. It all ultimately came down to what Quinn wanted and what she decided. Her opinion wasn’t necessary here and she was okay with that. She just wanted to be there for Quinn. _

_ A million and one things ran through Quinn’s brain, unsure herself on what to say because she felt that they were all waiting on her to say something. And she knew she was right when all four people from both sides of the bed, looked at her with differing degrees of love and patience. Though Puck looked more like he was still reeling from being included at all in this conversation. She looked to Mal with beseeching eyes and he returned her stare with a determined nod, agreeing to take the lead to at least break the quiet between them all. _

_ With his gaze still on Quinn, he cleared his throat while taking a step forward, bringing everybody’s attention to him. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “So Rachel told us that you’ll be coming home with us.” _

_ The blonde went to look at Rachel, her heart fluttering at the encouraging smile on her girlfriend’s face as she nodded towards Quinn. She looked to Steve before turning to look back at Mal, nervously biting down on her lip. “Is- is that okay?” _

_ His face softened immediately, a warm smile on his lips at her question as he sat down on the bed. He opened his arms wide and waited patiently until Quinn finally nodded for him to take her in for a hug. “We haven't changed our minds, Quinn. We’d love for you to stay with us, for however long you want.” _

_ Rachel was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her when she was released from the hug and Quinn wasn’t sure when exactly the brunette had started moving towards them. But she was comforted even more by Rachel’s presence, reassured by the simmering heat that radiated off her. She threw a grateful smile to Rachel then to both Mal and Steve, who taken a seat on the bed next to Mal. It didn’t matter how many times they said how welcomed she was at their home. It would always take her by surprise and filled her with more love than she knew how to handle. A glance to Puck told her that he wasn’t surprised but he still understood how she felt when he gave her a discerning nod. _

_ “And- and have you thought about what you want to do- about the baby?” _

_ And there it was. The billion dollar question that was on everybody’s mind. Quinn bit down on her lip, nodding slowly to Malachi who had been the one to ask. She felt a little - no, a  _ lot _ \- nervous, because it was a big decision. One that she had given a lot of thought and had talked about with so many people. She knew what Puck wanted. She knew what everybody else wanted. But she also knew they wouldn't say anything, that they wouldn't pressure her about it, and that they’d accept anything she decided. And god, she couldn't love them more for it. _

_ When she first found out that she was pregnant, she panicked, understandably so. She was in no position to take care of a baby when she was only just barely taking care of herself. Neither Finn nor Puck were particularly helpful either and though they did what they thought was their best, it just wasn't enough. Quinn knew then she couldn't keep the baby. _

_ But in these last few months, staying with Rachel and her dads and just… learning what it meant to live in a truly loving and supportive environment? It caused a ripple of change inside of Quinn. She learned to believe in herself a little more, learned that she deserved better than what she was taught. And she learned to love - love in such a way she never thought was ever possible for her. _

_ And after her conversation with Rachel this morning, the idea of keeping the baby felt like the most natural thing in the world, like there was no other choice that seemed  _ right _. She just knew that this was the family she wanted her baby to grow up knowing. Who would have known watching Rachel sing from afar just to gain a semblance of peace would lead her to this? Would lead her to more than just peace but also love and acceptance. _

_ She took a deep breath, a flurry of nerves going through her. “I want her to stay with me.” She watched them as they processed her words before surprise colored all of their faces. “I want her to stay with  _ us _ ,” she added almost timidly when nobody had uttered a word. _

_ Of all people, nobody ever would have expected it to be Puck to come forward first, to break the silence. He looked nervous in doing so, as if he wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to do. And he wasn’t. It was one thing to be considered family, and wholly another to voice an opinion or a question. But Rachel’s parents nodded encouragingly at him when he looked back to check with them. “It’s not- you didn’t decide this because of your parents, did you?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. _

_ When Quinn said that she wanted the baby to stay with them, a warm relief flooded right through him. It was all that he ever really wanted and for once in his life, Puck felt truly hopeful that this could be a new beginning for him, that he could truly learn to be better. But he had to remember that there was a reason they were having this meeting, that Quinn initially had reservations about it. They had to be sure that she was certain in her choice. _

_ “Remember when you asked me if I had thought about what I want to do and I told you, ‘yes, and no’?” she asked, reminding him of the conversation they had after the labor. She waited until he nodded, confusion in his eyes at her question. Quinn let out a deep breath, a small trembling smile on her lips. “Well, I- I had actually already made my decision then but I still wasn’t  _ sure _ , you know? And I didn’t want to get anybody’s hopes up. But then, seeing my parents- it helped make things a lot clearer,” she paused, biting down on her lip as the thought of her parents crossed her mind. The look on their faces before they walked out and left her. She knew that if it hadn’t been about Rachel, it would have been about the baby. She wanted to be better than that, better than them. _

_ She looked around the room, all eyes on her. And it was funny to imagine about how she used to think this was something she wanted, to have everybody’s attention on her. The past few months taught her the negative side of having everybody’s attention. But this wasn’t it. This was a room of people that she knew loved her with everything they had. She knew because she loved them with everything she had too. _

_ Quinn looked to Rachel then, and she thought about the look on Rachel’s face when she looked at the baby earlier. There was so much love in her brown eyes then, just as it was now and Quinn knew even more that she was making the right call. _

_ She moved her gaze back to Puck. She knew that he must be completely floored by this, seemingly having already long accepted that she was going to follow the plan of open adoption. “I’m sure if we had picked one of the families we shortlisted, she’d have been happy in any one of them. And maybe it’s selfish that I want the chance to want to give her a better home than my parents ever gave me. I just- I just  _ know _ that she could be really happy with us, with me.” _

_ And right then, it was like there was a collective agreement to accept Quinn’s words, that it was more than enough for them. And so they rallied behind her as families should do, barely contained excited grins on their faces at this next step that they were all taking together. Quinn could clearly see then that they really would never let her feel like she was alone, and she knew that she made the right choice, in staying and in keeping the baby. _

_ “Okay then,” Steve pushed off the bed to stand, clapping his hands together in a way that reminded Quinn and Puck of something that Rachel had done often during Glee. And it made them both smile to see something that was in a way, oddly comforting. “I guess the next thing to ask is if we have a name for the little one.” _

_ Quinn nodded, a shy smile on her face now. “Yes, we do.” _

\--

It was close to evening by the time they left the hospital so the sky was full of reds and oranges as the sun began to set. The drive back to the Berry household felt like it was taking too long but at the same time, it was going by far too quickly. She spent a lot of the ride peering into the baby car seat beside her with Rachel’s hand encased in both of hers. Quinn paid no attention to whatever conversation Rachel was having with her parents, all sounds were only but a soft murmur to her as she looked at the sleeping baby next to her. 

Rachel did her best to focus on the things her parents were saying to her but it was difficult to do so when she could see the little smile on Quinn’s face every time she looked at the baby. There were little signs of anxiety, in the way that Quinn held onto her hand and how her knee shook against Rachel’s and even how her foot was constantly tapping. But it was that smile on the blonde’s face that eased her worry, it was bright and soft and peaceful. It told her that Quinn felt no regret for the decision she made.

By the time they were home and parked in the driveway, minutes passed by and Quinn didn’t move a muscle. Rachel watched an exchange of looks between her parents as they came to a silent agreement. Her Dad reached over to rest his hand on Quinn’s knee. “We’ll go ahead and drop your stuff in your room, Quinn,” he murmured softly.

It was only then that the blonde finally looked up, a hint of surprise on her face that they were actually already home. She nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Rachel watched and waited as her parents got out of the car and grabbed all of their belongings from the trunk before heading inside the house. Quinn had pushed back the hood of the baby car seat and was in the middle of unlocking the many seat buckles when Rachel touched her forearm, calling for her attention. The blonde paused in her ministrations and looked back at her with questioning hazel eyes, and Rachel couldn’t help but smile at her, a smile of understanding. “I’m just going to go in and make sure everything’s in place for you.”

The blonde leaned in and captured Rachel’s lips then, kissing her firm and deep. A rush of gratitude had filled her, bloomed in her chest in knowing Rachel understood the reasons for her languor. It wasn’t out of hesitance or apathy but more that Quinn just wanted to soak in every minute of all that she could, that she felt overwhelmed by all that had happened and she needed to retreat a little bit inside herself. And Rachel got all of that. “Thank you,” she breathed when she finally pulled away from Rachel’s addictive mouth. 

Rachel let out a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest at the way Quinn fingers moved along her jaw. “Always,” she replied, placing a short kiss on Quinn’s forehead as she unlocked the door.

Quinn watched as her girlfriend made her way to the front door and inside the house. The rustling beside her pulled her attention back to the baby car seat and the many locked buckles left to go. The baby was awake but thankfully not crying just yet, though Quinn knew that it was almost time for her milk. 

She made sure the baby was secure in her arms before she finally got out of the car, closing the door behind her. Quinn took a look at the house in front of her, contemplative. Rachel had left the door open for her, the lights were on and Quinn could easily hear Malachi’s laughter while Steve sang along to the radio. It brought a smile to her face as she looked down to the bundle in her arms. She traced her finger over chubby cheeks and gazed into her daughter’s blue eyes. 

“Welcome home, Stella Fabray-Puckerman.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @maybewritingthings


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Would you ever it take back?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> Can you believe that we're finally here? I honestly can't and I've been sitting on this chapter for the past couple of days while it was being read through. 
> 
> I just want to thank all those who have stayed with me throughout this whole story because in a way, you've been with me through so many changes in my life. This story brought to me some really special people, namely my wife and the love of my life, and of course, the friends that I've made. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you've stuck with me to the very end. 
> 
> Thank you <333

“Rach, you suck at bluffing.”

“I can’t help that I’m an honest person!” The tiny brunette threw down the playing cards over the table and groaned in embarrassed exasperation. The blonde Cheerio was teaching Rachel how to play poker as she had promised she would except Rachel really wasn’t doing a good job at it as Santana had once predicted. “How did you beat me  _ again _ ? This is  _ so _ not fair.”

Brittany stared at her friend and laughed to herself at Rachel’s adorable pout. They had been at this for nearly two whole hours while Quinn and Santana were swimming in the pool. She was going to need to cool off soon as it was a truly hot day. “I told you, Rach. You suck at bluffing. Your whole  _ face _ is a tell. It’s just a game, babe, where it’s  _ totally _ okay to lie.” She watched as Rachel only glared fiercely down at the playing cards on the table as if they had betrayed her and she wanted to set them on fire. “It’s like when you have to act for a part. That’s kind of like lying, isn’t it?”

Rachel shrugged at the point the blonde had made. “I suppose. I’ve just never been a really particularly good liar.”

Brittany snorted. “Yeah, everybody knows  _ that _ .” She stuck her tongue out when brown eyes narrowed into another glare, then she crossed her eyes until she heard Rachel’s unfettered laughter. The blonde smiled brightly at the sound as it had become one of her favourite things to hear after her girlfriend’s own laughter. She gathered the cards back up in her hands and started to shuffle the deck. “Come on, let’s try this one more time.” 

“Fine,” Rachel sighed almost petulantly, not at all looking forward to losing another game. It was a huge bruise to her competitive ego and she knew Santana was going to tease her about this for a very long time. And that was  _ so _ much worse than actually losing.

“Quinn seems much better now,” Brittany noted quietly as she dealt out the cards. 

At the sound of raucous laughter, both girls looked over to find the aforementioned blonde currently sitting by the pool now where she was dipping her feet. Santana was sitting next to her with her own feet in the water and they were talking animatedly about something while enjoying the warm sun. Rachel knew that they were all waiting excitedly for Noah to get to the house. It was a beautiful summery Sunday afternoon, and she and Quinn had been hanging out with Brittany and Santana at the brunette Cheerio’s home. The two cheerleaders had only just returned from cheer camp a few days ago and school was starting back up in a couple of days so they wanted to take advantage of the last of their free time with Rachel and Quinn before homework and extracurriculars took over their lives. 

Rachel stared at her girlfriend for a long moment, her brown eyes tracing Quinn’s pretty face, her bright eyes, her full lips and defined jaw. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit instead of a bikini as she was a little insecure about the little protruding belly that she still had. Though Rachel absolutely loved it, she understood that Quinn didn’t feel the same. There were days, weeks after they came home from the hospital, when Rachel would find her girlfriend standing in front of the mirror with her shirt lifted up, frowning down at her stomach.

So she wholeheartedly supported the blonde when she began her training regiment with Noah, and since they came back, Brittany and Santana. It really only consisted of yoga, running and swimming and nothing too streneous like what Quinn was used to when she was a cheerleader under Coach Sylvester. While Rachel worried that the blonde would determinedly train herself to exhaustion, she knew she could trust their friends to make sure Quinn didn't push herself too hard. After all, it wasn’t just Rachel that needed Quinn to be as well-rested as she could be. She sighed. “Yeah, I think going back to being physically active helps, especially now that we’ve got a solid routine down at home now.”

“Are you glad she kept Stella?”

Rachel smiled instantly at the mention of their home’s new addition. “I am. I think Quinn really is too. We’ve had so many sleepless nights but I don’t think either of us would trade them for anything.” She looked up from her cards to see Quinn carrying Stella out of the house. The baby had been sleeping inside with Santana's mom looking after her. Checking the time on her phone, Rachel realized that it was feeding time. 

She felt Brittany’s hand as her lightly tanned fingers wrapped gently around her wrist. Rachel turned back to see her friend’s cornflower blue eyes, an earnest shine in them. “You know, now that me and San are back, we would love to babysit her if you need us.”

Rachel nodded, reaching for the hand on her wrist and giving it a loving squeeze. “I know. I think for now we’re okay with Noah and his family. And my dads too.”

“Oh I bet they’re totally spoiling her.”

The brunette chuckled and fervently nodded. “It’s  _ ridiculous _ ! Every time they come home from work, they  _ always _ have something for her. Just the other day, they brought back a tricycle. A  _ tricycle _ ! She’s only just barely learning to lift her own head up.” She shook her head as she thought about that day. It was a good thing their basement wasn’t that full up that they could store these things for the time being. She really needed to have a serious talk with them about this. She knew that while Quinn felt the same, she didn’t want to seem ungrateful either and so kept quiet about it. 

“It does help that they’re so great with her though,” Rachel continued, “especially when Quinn and I need some time to ourselves.”

“How are you guys doing?” the blonde asked as she put down a card on the table. 

“We’re doing really good,” Rachel replied distractedly, trying to focus on what her next move was going to be and completely oblivious to the fact that her animated face was telling everything that Brittany needed to know for her own move after Rachel’s. 

\---

Stella was finally able to latch on when Santana sat down on the deck chair next to her. “Hey, quit hogging my goddaughter.”

She rolled her eyes and gestured down to the nursing baby in her arms. “ _ She’s _ the one with her mouth on my boob, Santana,” she replied dryly.

“You  _ always _ say that,” the brunette grumbled, deciding to lay back in her chair and soak in the sun until she could finally be the one to hold Stella.

Since she and Britt came back from camp, she hadn't had the chance to hold the baby as much as she would have wanted. Though she didn't mind so much when it was her girlfriend carrying Stella in her arms. It was an image of a future that she could only dream of having with Brittany. One day. 

“That’s because she’s almost always hungry. You can have her when she poops,” Quinn offered, already knowing that Santana wouldn’t take it. Babies may be cute as all hell and everybody wants to hold them until they need a diaper change. 

The disgusted frown on Santana's face validated Quinn’s theory and the brunette shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. I'll wait.”

“I thought so.” She smirked just as she felt a little squeeze around her finger and she graced Stella with a fond smile. It took awhile to acclimate to the tugging sensation every time Stella fed and it had been a little painful at first but eventually, they found their rhythm together. It was a steep learning curve and there were so many days when she thought that she had made a mistake, that she was going to mess this all up. But then Stella would laugh or she would smile and it was like falling in love with her all over again. 

Though Quinn doubted that she'd ever really get  _ used _ to the feeling of somebody needing her like this, she couldn't help but be grateful for these moments when she felt so close to her baby. It was heartwrenchingly unbearable to think how close it came to be somebody else who could have shared this moment with Stella. And Rachel had been a rock, always so steady and so supportive whenever she needed it. And god, did she need it a lot these past three months. 

It was a month after the birth and incidentally, the day of Stella’s first monthly visit to the pediatrician, when they came back and found all of her things in boxes right on the porch. They were all the things that she couldn't carry with her when her dad kicked her out and they had been left there with no warning or anything. She thought at first that both her parents had done it but then she realized that maybe it had been her mom who did it, as there were some of her baby stuff - so carefully folded and packed together - things that she knew she didn't keep in her old bedroom but had been kept in storage up in their attic. And Rachel had been so worried about her that day that she quickly organized everything, putting them in their deserved places so that Quinn didn't have to do any of it. 

“So where’s your mind at, Q?” Santana asked when she heard the blonde let out a quiet sigh and she could hear the sadness within it. 

Quinn shrugged weakly, a trembling smile on her face. “I was just… thinking about my mom, I guess.”

\---

_ Cool blue eyes helplessly followed the departing form of Russell Fabray and Judy took in a deep, shaky breath. The die had been set. Russ had decided to walk out, leaving the trail of footsteps that she was sure to follow soon enough, and that once she made that last step out of the door, this was the last that she would ever see of Quinn. Their daughter – her baby girl – was never going to come back home. Judy had known, she had seen the steely determination in the younger blonde’s hazel eyes - so very much like her father - and she just knew, Quinn was never coming back home if they didn't accept this part of her.  _

_ She could feel the tight clenching in her chest that had been there since the day her baby left; and she felt it tighten even more that it neared suffocating, but she couldn’t let it show. She had spent so long hiding every real feeling, too concerned about making a show that everything was great and smooth-sailing that she feared if she let go now, she wouldn’t know how to stop. She was so lost in her thoughts that it nearly startled her to hear Quinn’s voice breaking the silence between them, her youngest’s voice in that soft and timid manner that never failed to break her heart.  _

_ “Will he ever forgive me?” _

_ Though there was a glimmery shine to Quinn's hazel eyes, her tears never fell. And somehow that broke Judy’s heart even more. “Quinny. I-” _

_ “Will he?” the younger blonde pressed emphatically, her voice near breaking at the end but she didn't care this time that she was showing it. Her father wasn't here to berate her for showing weakness anymore and it seemed, he was never going to be.  _

_ Judy swallowed thickly as she tried to think of how to reply. “Your father is very set in his ways, Quinn, you know that. He has never bent them for anybody.” _

_ The younger blonde chuckled, quiet and with a sad smile on her lips.“I know,” she whispered before she shrugged. “I just thought that maybe, just this once, he would bend them for me.”  _

_ Judy wasn't sure how to approach Quinn. The distance between them seemed so insurmountable that she felt near hopeless. But she couldn't not try. This was her baby and she should be at home with them, right where she belonged. “Quinn,” she began softly, carefully. “I know that I’m not exactly an expert on relationships but have you ever thought about  _ not _ being with Rachel? You know that your father will let you back home then.”  _

_ It wasn't a far reach. She knew that beneath it all, no matter what he said, Russell did love their daughter. Quinn was always his favorite. She thought that perhaps it was very likely because Quinn took so much after her that the affection he showed for her was so different to the one he showed for Frannie. She just had to make Quinn understand that all she had to do was just this  _ one _ thing, then she could finally come back home and they could be the perfect family they had been before. They could be happy again.  _

_ “Well, have you ever thought about not being with dad?” Quinn thought about how she had never seen her mother look so old and weary, and she knew that it was because of her. Guilt burned through her, even though she knew that none of what she felt was within her control. But the thought of denying any part of her that she had been embracing these past few months was too much to ask of her and it hurt her that her own mother was actually asking her to do this. But being angry wasn't going to change anything and the only choice she had left was to make her mom see her side of it.  _

_ “That's not the same, Quinn. He is my husband.” _

_ Quinn shook her head. And that was that. She knew at that point then that there was no use trying to explain to her mother that there was just no way she couldn't not feel the way she did for Rachel, that she couldn't come back home even if she weren't with her. There was no changing who she was, not for her mom nor her dad, nor for anybody. And so she laid back down in her bed and she sighed. “Mom?” _

_ “Yes, dear?” _

_ “I love you.” _

_ Judy Fabray’s fingers curled, folding tightly into her palm. Sharp manicured fingernails dug so deeply into her skin, leaving half-moon impressions as her chest tightened. Her other hand gripped the bed railing as if it were her lifeline, the only thing that could keep her standing upright. She felt her resolve weakening and her heart shattering to pieces at the love in her baby girl's voice. A love for her that she felt she didn't deserve to have anymore. It was a love that accepted that her father might never change his ways to accept or even tolerate her; that her mother might never have the strength to come out of his shadow, to take the risk and support her like a mother should. It was acceptance that this might be the very last time she would ever be in the same room with the woman that gave her life. _

_ She wanted to tell Quinn that she loved her too. That she would always love her, regardless of who it was that she loved. But she didn’t want to give her hope when she had none to give. She loved Russell and she had loved him for most of her life now. She knew that they had a better chance of teaching old dogs new tricks than to ever change his mind. Yes, there could be a chance where he might do so and see that at the core, Quinn was still that little girl he took to those baseball games with her older sister.  _

_ But she didn’t want Quinn to hang onto a “maybe”. _

_ Judy breathed in deeply, squared her shoulders before moving closer to her daughter. Hazel eyes were hidden by closed lids and the older Fabray felt her own eyes stinging with tears begging to be shed. Her own daughter was letting her go, knowing that there was nothing more she could do and she had shut her eyes so that she didn't have to see her mother leave her. It hurt her more than she could ever imagine; that Quinn knew before she did, that Quinn knew she was going to choose to follow Russell out the door, that she was going to her prove her daughter right.  _

_ God, she really hoped that this was the right thing to do. _

_ Quinn felt a gust of warm air brush over her as soft lips press delicately against her forehead. Her breath caught when she realized what was happening and a small wave of hope crashed over her. She opened her eyes to meet a pair of shining blue that had always reminded her of the limitless sky. Sometimes, whenever she met her mother's stare, Quinn felt like anything was possible, that she could do anything. She automatically leaned in when Judy cupped her cheek, gently, lovingly, and she thought of how Rachel did the same thing too. Judy was so close that Quinn could feel her mother's faint breathing sweep over her face while their eyes remained locked and the silence between them continued. Though she said nothing, Quinn understood then everything that Judy was trying to say. For the first time in her life, Judy's face was like an open book to the younger blonde. For the first time in a very long time, she was filled with the assurance that her mother loved her and that she always, always would. _

_ She closed her eyes when Judy leaned in to kiss her forehead once again, and the hope that had dared to burn in her chest extinguished itself as she felt a tear drop onto her cheek. A tear that wasn't hers, but her mother's. Quinn whimpered at the reality that was setting and she kept her eyes closed, wanting Judy's blue eyes so filled with love to be the last image that she saw of her mother and not of her walking out the door, and out of her life. _

\---

“I still feel guilty sometimes though.”

“About what?”

Rachel sighed heavily, resigned to losing yet another game as she picked out a card and laid it on the table. She leaned back in her chair, turning her gaze to see her girlfriend still holding Stella in her arms, talking quietly with Santana. She smiled wistfully at the sight of how calm and peaceful Quinn looked having Stella with her. “Quinn’s parents should be here. They should be helping with the baby and seeing her grow but they’re not.”

“It's not your fault that they left, Rach, you have to know that.” Brittany wasn’t shocked by her friend’s quiet admission. She knew that despite how well Quinn was doing and how much happier she seemed to be, Rachel was always going to carry around some nugget of guilt and Brittany knew that Quinn had more than likely done her best to talk to her about it. But Rachel was much too stubborn sometimes. 

Rachel sighed again, nodding slowly. “I guess, a part of me does know that. It’s just that, if it hadn't been for me-”

“Quinn wouldn't be happy. She wouldn't,” the blonde insisted, shaking her head when she saw Rachel opening her mouth, obviously to argue with what she said. Rachel might already know what she was going to say but she needed to hear it from somebody else other than Quinn and her parents. “If Quinn had gone back with her parents, she'd be reminded of only the bad things. She needs us, she needs you, and she needs Stella, to remind her that even though there are bad things, there are still some really great things too.”

The brunette swallowed thickly, her chest tight and heavy with the love she had for her friend. The blonde’s blue eyes were darker than she had ever seen before and she knew that Brittany meant every word of what she had said. And maybe Rachel was always going to feel a little guilty about Quinn not having her parents ever again but she wasn’t alone. The support of friends and family had never been more true than the past three months. Not just Rachel’s parents but their friends from Glee club were almost always regular visitors in the Berry household too. And when he wasn’t working, Noah was there, wanting to soak in every minute he could with Stella. Rachel had been so worried about her girlfriend never having the love and support of her parents, that she too, obviously needed a reminder that Quinn had that with them all. “You're an amazing person, Brittany S. Pierce.”

“I know.” The blonde smirked, her blue eyes alight with mirth and teasing. Her expression then softened into a gentle smile and she got up from her chair to take the one next to Rachel and wrapped her arms around her friend for a tight hug. “You're not so bad yourself, Rachel B. Berry,” she murmured, closing her eyes as Rachel returned the embrace. When she pulled away, her hand slid down Rachel’s arm, warm from the sun, while the other tucked the falling strands of brown hair behind Rachel’s ear. “You’re my best friend.”

Rachel couldn’t help but blush under the blonde’s earnest gaze, her smile was shy and bashful. “I am?”

Brittany gave the small brunette a charming, lopsided grin as she nodded. Her blue eyes then twinkled mischievously. “Don’t tell Santana though or she’ll pout all day.”

She laughed immediately at the mental image of Santana Lopez pouting and knowing that the taller brunette would hate for anyone to see that. “I love you, Britt,” she uttered quietly.

“I love you too, Rach. Even if you do have the worst poker face in like, the history of poker faces.”

Rachel pouted immediately.

“No really, it’s just shameful.”

Rachel’s pout grew even more, disappearing only when she looked up and her brown eyes met Quinn’s hazel eyes over Santana’s head. She blushed and shrugged when the blonde arched her eyebrow, silently questioning Rachel’s pout. The brunette eventually rolled her eyes and stared back, challenging her girlfriend’s intense gaze. Quinn responded then with a charming smile and she couldn’t help but melt, mouthing an ‘I love you’ to the blonde. 

\---

It was a lot, to find out exactly what went down in those last few minutes between Quinn and her mom. Santana didn't know how her friend did it. 

It unsettled her just to think about going a day without talking to her mom or even her abuela. But she also didn't know what she would do if she had to choose between her family and Brittany. She knew that she was lucky that her family loved Brittany nearly as much as she did. And here Quinn was, without either of her parents or even her sister. She chose Stella first and then she chose Rachel. She chose  _ love _ . And maybe one day, in the distant,  _ distant _ future, she would tell Quinn how her continued strength to face each day left her so completely in awe of her. 

She wiggled her fingers playfully in front of Stella, trying to capture her attention. “Would you ever take it back? Telling your parents about you and Rachel?” she asked, keeping her voice quiet and soothing so as to not startle the baby. 

The blonde adjusted her hold on Stella so that she was fully facing Santana when she heard the sound of Brittany's laughter and she looked over to see her girlfriend pouting. Brown eyes eventually met her stare and she arched her eyebrow in question, curious as to what prompted Rachel to pout so spectacularly. And she felt that flutter in her chest at the sight of Rachel, at knowing that this was the very same wonderful, amazing human being that she loved and who loved her in return. 

Quinn thought frequently about that day in the auditorium when Rachel found her. She thought about those late afternoons she spent backstage, just listening to Rachel sing and how it made her feel safe and at peace. And oh, how Stella had kicked so happily whenever Rachel was around. Her life changed so much since that day, changed so much for the better. 

She smiled at Rachel then, with all these memories of the last few months together going around in her head. Would she ever take any of it back? She watched then as Rachel mouthed an ‘I love you’ to her and with the wild beat of her heart, a true calm inside her, Quinn knew the answer.

“I wouldn't change it for the world.”

**THE END**

_ “Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning, a flame: very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love become as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.” _ \- Anonymous

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on tumblr/twitter (same username) if you want to talk about the story or if you just want to shoot the shit with me. I get bored sometimes.


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